Local, provincial housing starts rebound
Lethbridge starts up over last year
Is Alberta heading into another economic boom? Many home builders could say “Yes!” Housing starts in the province’s two major cities have rebounded this year compared with the first quarter of 2016. Lethbridge-area builders are busy as well, with 140 starts despite a stop-andstart winter.
And residents of Fort McMurray, swept by fire last spring, saw nearly 300 housing starts through the first three months of 2017.
But the big news is in Calgary and Edmonton, where home construction dropped dramatically last year even though Lethbridge remained relatively stable.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reports an even 800 single-family homes were started in the Calgary metropolitan area by the end of March, along with 1,279 housing units in multifamily projects. That brought the yearto-date total to 2,079 new spaces, compared with 1,567 a year ago.
But the capital city’s recovery is impressive as well. In metro Edmonton, 872 single-family starts along with 1,842 multi-family units boosted the year-todate numbers to 2,714 starts, compared with 2,111 in the first quarter last year.
Here in the Lethbridge region, 114 single-family projects were started, up from 103 a year ago. But the CMHC reports fewer multi-family units begun, 26 units so far versus 51 a year earlier.
Within the city, officials report building permits had been issued for 93 single-family units estimated at $12.6 million by the end of March — one more than last year. But multi-family permits have been sparse — just two issued compared with 16 over the same period a year ago.
The pact of commercial construction has stepped up, however, and the city also reports a significant jump in government and institutional work.
Not all parts of the province have seen improvement, however. In Red Deer and area, the CMHC reports a combined total of 52 housing starts — single and multifamily — during the first quarter versus 183 a year ago. Grande Prairie has slumped from 104 to 24 while Medicine Hat is down by almost two-thirds, 38 to 13.
In Lethbridge, overall construction permit values reached $60.9 million by the end of March, with $32.5 million of that linked to city or provincial government projects.
Commercial additions and renovations are also up, with permits for more than $9 million worth issued during the first quarter.
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