Housing Starts Still Slow

Thursday, July 09, 2009 10:44 AM

Victoria, B.C. - Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says housing starts are still down in the Prince George area, but there was some slight improvement in activity last month.

CMHC Market Analyst Paul Fabri says while there were still fewer starts recorded in June compared with the same month in 2008, the activity was an improvement over May.

There were 9 single detached home starts last month compared to 13 in June, 2008 which is a drop of nearly 31%. The number of multiple family starts was down by 39% last month.

Fabri says year-to-date figures show that single detached starts are down by nearly 69%. He says slower employment growth and competition from the well-supplied existing home market are the main reasons for a decline in new housing starts in the city.

As for the increased activity in June, Fabri says this is typically the time of year when new housing starts get underway.

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