Prince George, B.C.- Housing starts in the province are showing a decline. The latest information from Canada Mortgage and housing shows a 60% dip in starts in Prince George in February. While the number may seem alarming, the report quickly points out the numbers were not high to begin with. There were just 5 starts in February of last year, compared to 2 last month.

 

The bigger picture shows the decline so far this year is nearly 73 % as there had been 22 single family homes started in the first two months of 2008, compared to just 6 in January and February of this year.

 

Here are the overall stats:

 

 “February 2008 was an unusually strong month for housing starts, which makes the year over year decline more noticeable” said Richard Sam, Market Analyst with CMHC. “However, low starts data for the first two months of 2009 are an indication that developers are pulling back until some of the supply of new and resale homes on the market are absorbed. In turn, home buyers will benefit from current buyer’s conditions that exist in the resale market. CMHC is forecasting that housing starts will decline by more than one-third in 2009” added Sam.

 

Provincial home starts declined to 12,300 units, seasonally adjusted at annual rates(SAAR) from 14,100 units in January 2009.

 

At the national level, housing starts moved lower in February to 134,600 units (SAAR) from 153,500 units (SAAR) in January.