Single-family home builds sustain momentum
For the 10th consecutive month, more single-family homes broke ground in the Calgary area than the same time a year earlier.
Shovels turned for 390 singlefamily homes in the Calgary census metropolitan area in November, an 11 per cent jump year over year, says Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
The census metropolitan area counts construction in nearby cities and towns, such as Airdrie, Cochrane and Chestermere.
Activity from builders in the Calgary area fell just short of what was seen in the Edmonton area, which had 400 single-family starts last month.
With that said, output in the Cal- gary area continues to perform at a higher clip than 2016 figures. Between Jan. 1 and the end of November, there were starts on 4,075 single-family homes in the Calgary area, rallying from 3,195 a year ago.
Here are six things about construction and supply of singlefamily homes in the area.
1 Shovels in the ground in the northwest
For 10 months running, northwest Calgary has paced all ends of the city in new single-family starts, says CMHC. The quadrant led last month with 115 taking root.
Year to date, the northwest end of the city has been responsible for 1,108 of the Calgary area’s singlefamily starts. Northeast Calgary is the next most active area with 688.
2 Construction sites busy
There are 728 single- family homes under construction in northwest Calgary, which is 392 more than the next more active area, northeast Calgary, with 336, says CMHC.
Overall, there are 2,651 singlefamily homes under construction in the Calgary area, which is up from 2,616 a year ago.
3 Airdrie and Cochrane rising
New construction of singlefamily homes in two centres near the city grew year over year last month.
Airdrie’s starts rose to 46 from 34, and Cochrane’s improved to 19 from 14, says CMHC.
Airdrie and Cochrane have post- ed 486 and 251 starts, respectively, year to date. During the same time in 2016, Airdrie had 383 and Cochrane had 209.
4 Inventory upswing
The number of single-family homes ready for possession in the Calgary area picked up both year over year and from a month earlier. There were 461 constructed but unabsorbed single-family homes in the Calgary area last month, climbing from 409 this past October. In November 2016, the tally was 383 homes.
5 North Calgary paces supply
The city’s northwest and northeast quadrants aren’t just leading in construction, but homes ready for possession, too. Northwest and northeast Calgary had 142 and 69 constructed but unabsorbed single-family homes last month, says CMHC. The next highest count came from southeast Calgary with 41.
6 Inventory prices dip
The average price on singlefamily homes ready for possession in the Calgary area last month was down from the same time in 2016. It was $717,547 this past November, sliding from $794,617 year over year, says CMHC.
The most expensive area to buy a single-family home in the Calgary area last month was the southwest quadrant, where the average was $1,390,520. Northeast Calgary offered the lowest average price at $540,231.