Housing starts in Abbotsford-Mission rose by a dramatic 133 percent in March compared to with a total of 28 structures started compared to only 22 in March of 2013.
The house construction industry is still asleep in the CMA where a total of only 20 single detached homes were begun in March up from 10 last year. By way of comparison, a smaller city such as Kelowna (pop. 106, 710) posted 37 new single detached homes started in March and 24 in the ‘All other’ category which includes commercial, industrial and institutional. That represents a total of 61 housing starts compared to Abbotsford-Mission’s at 28 for a population base which is nearly double that of Kelowna.
Communities like Ste Catherines and Oshawa, in the middle of the rust belt, posted large declines but their numbers were still much larger than Abbotsford-Mission (Ste Catherines … 58 starts, Oshawa … 42 starts)
Most Western Canadian centers saw increases in March with Edmonton and Saskatoon posting huge increases while all Western Canadian cities posted declines in the construction of single detached homes.
Vancouver +16%
Victoria +53%
Kelowna -16%
Edmonton +130%
Calgary -2%
Saskatoon +146XX%
Regina -37%
Winnipeg +13%
To access the tables click here.
For a PDF of this month’s report click here.
Housing starts are one of the biggest drivers of economic activity in both the local and the national economy.