SINGLE-FAMILY HOME STARTS DROP IN APRIL
Work began on 341 dwellings, down from 402 in 2017
April was the first month in 2018 in which fewer single-family homes broke ground in the Calgary area than at the same time a year earlier.
Shovels turned for 341 singlefamily homes in the Calgary census metropolitan area last month, slipping 15 per cent from 402 year- over-year, says Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
The census metropolitan area includes work in nearby cities and towns, including Airdrie, Cochrane, and Chestermere. Within Calgary limits specifically, starts eased to 257 from 278.
“For (2018), activity has been pretty close to last year,” says Richard Cho, CMHC’s principal of market analysis.
“So although we did see a bit of a dip on a year-over-year basis in April, the overall trend for the year so far has been pretty steady.”
Between Jan. 1 and the end of April, there were starts on 1,203 single-family homes in the Calgary area, an eight per cent uptick the same period in 2017.
Here are four facts about new construction of single-family homes in the Calgary area.
NORTHWEST CONTINUES TO LEAD STARTS
Every month since February 2017 has seen Calgary’s northwest quadrant pace the month-long tally on starts for single-family homes, says CMHC. This past April, it topped all ends of the city with 67 dwellings taking root.
The next most active area was southeast Calgary with shovels turned for 56, followed by the city’s southwest with 47, 45 in the Fish Creek area, and 34 in the northeast.
STARTS EASE IN AIRDRIE AND COCHRANE
The two centres just outside of Calgary’s northern edge recorded slower months for new construction, respectively, in April. Airdrie’s single-family starts cooled to 42 from 59, year over year, while Cochrane had 17, down from 26.
With that said, Airdrie and Cochrane each had more singlefamily homes in various stages of construction last month than in April 2017.
Airdrie had 272 and there were 148 in Cochrane.
SUPPLY PICKS UP
People in the market for a single- family home that was available for immediate possession had more options to consider this past April than the same month last year.
There were 478 constructed but unabsorbed single-family homes in the Calgary area, rallying from 443 year over year, says CMHC. The bulk of last month’s single-family supply belonged to northwest Calgary, with 150 brought to market. This was followed by 65 in the northeast, 52 in the Fish Creek area, 49 in Calgary’s southeast, and 30 in the southwest. Northwest Calgary’s supply last month jumped by 10 homes year-over- year.
SPEC HOME PRICES DIP
The average price on constructed but unabsorbed single-family homes in the Calgary area last month was $706,800, lowering from $784,488 in April 2017, says CMHC. The priciest area to buy one of these homes last month was southwest Calgary, averaging $1,209,170, and the most affordable was northeast Calgary at $539,049.
Meanwhile, prices on absorbed single-family homes edged the same month a year ago. Last month’s average was $658,356, up from $653,831 year-over-year.