BCREA News Release - April Housing Starts - May 9, 2011
By Jaime Briggs, Kelowna Real Estate
Monday May 9th, 2011
Just released from BCREA today . . .
April Housing Starts - May 9, 2011
Housing starts in Canada fell 3 per cent to a seasonally adjusted and annualized rate of 179,000 units last month. The decline was largely the result of a dip in multiple starts across Ontario and Quebec, where starts fell 8.0 and 9.4 per cent respectively.
Urban housing starts in BC climbed 19 per cent to 22,600 units in April on a seasonally adjusted and annualized basis. However, April housing starts were 9 per cent lower than a year ago and were down 5 per cent year-to-date. A 40 per cent decline in detached starts over the first four months of the year is responsible for the decline. Modest improvement in new home construction activity is expected over the next few months as recent building permit data suggests stronger home builder intentions.
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