Single-family construction starts continue to be stable

New construction of single-family homes in the Calgary area is continuing to perform at a similar pace to the same time a year ago.

There were construction starts on 221 single-family homes in the Calgary census metropolitan area in January, easing from 225 a year earlier, says Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

The census metropolitan area includes activity in neighbouring cities and towns, such as Airdrie, Cochrane, and Chestermere.

Within Calgary city limits, single-family starts recorded an increase from the same period a year earlier. There were shovels turned for 162 of these homes last month compared to 147 in January 2016.

In the Calgary area, the comparable output year over year was a shift that started in the second half of 2016. Between July and the end of December, single-family starts rose to 2,023 from 1,977 a year earlier. Over the previous six months of last year, starts eased to 1,466 from 2,161 year over year.

The uptick in new construction can be linked to both new and resale housing inventory, says Richard Cho, CMHC’s principal of market analysis. “The overall pace in recent months has been relatively stable and part of that is due to where supply levels are at,” Cho says. “Looking at supply of single-detached units in the resale market, that’s down on a year over year basis. And the inventory of single-detached homes in the new home market has been relatively stable, as well.”

At press time, there were 1,847 active listings of single-family homes in Calgary, says the Calgary Real Estate Board. This marks a 27 per cent downswing from the same time in 2016. Single-family construction starts in the Calgary area was the second highest of any urban centre in Alberta.