Housing starts off to strong start
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The year is off to a good start for Red Deer home builders — at least compared to the same period in 2009.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported on Monday that work commenced on 49 homes in Red Deer in January, up from 17 starts a year earlier.
Single-detached homes accounted for 22 of last month’s projects, with multi-family units making up the balance.
Last January, there were 17 single-detached starts and none in the multi-family category.
At 188 per cent, Red Deer’s year-over-year jump in housing starts was the highest among Alberta’s seven largest urban areas.
The Calgary metropolitan area experienced a 112 per cent increase, Grande Prairie jumped 42 per cent and the Edmonton metropolitan area was up 40 per cent.
The remaining centres saw a drop in construction starts this year, with Lethbridge down 21 per cent, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo off 25 per cent and Medicine Hat tumbling 32 per cent.
Cumulatively, the seven urban areas had 52 per cent more housing starts this January than a year ago. In January 2008, Red Deer had 32 construction starts on single-detached homes but no new projects in multi-family buildings.
