New home starts up in Sept.: CMHC
09.10.2008 10:02
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- Source: cbc.ca
Led by multi-family home construction, new home starts in Canada went up in September — albeit slightly — even as the global financial crisis hit North America and Europe, according to CMHC figures released Wednesday. Canada Housing and Mortgage Corp. said 217,600 units were started in September, up marginally from 217,400 in August. The increase occurred despite a month when world stock markets were rocked by brokerage house bankruptcies and the takeover of ailing banks and other lending institutions. “Higher starts of multiple-family homes were behind the rise in new home construction activity in September," said Bob Dugan, chief economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre. Many analysts, however, have said housing activity should fall faster as consumers begin to feel the effects of shrinking investments and mortgage lenders start reducing what they dole out to home builders and individual purchasers. In September, the number of urban starts of single-family homes in Canada fell by 8.1 per cent, compared with August. In addition, for the first nine months of the year, the number of rural and urban home starts slipped by 5.7 per cent from the same period in 2007. But urban starts rose or stayed the same in every province except Ontario, where the indicator slipped in September by 6.6 per cent, compared with August. Still, as a sign of the slowing economy in Alberta, housing starts for single detached homes in Calgary hit their lowest levels in two decades in September. Starts in the month dropped 56 per cent over the same time last year. CMHC's analysts in Calgary said contractors and developers are staying away from speculative construction and are trying to decrease their inventory. Canada can expect a drop of 10 to 15 per cent in new home demand from current levels, "more so if demand softens more substantially over the next few years," Scotiabank economist Adrienne Warren wrote in August. In its own August update, CMHC predicted that new housing starts will fall to 215,475 in 2008, a drop of 5.6 per cent from 2007, and slip again to 194,100 in 2009, a further reduction of 9.9 per cent. RelatedInternal LinksHarper dismisses gloomy report on Canadian housing marketConsumer HeadlinesTests results show extent of listeria contamination, experts sayTwo-thirds of meat samples taken from Toronto-area nursing homes and hospitals in mid-August for testing were contaminated with listeria, according to records obtained by CBC News and the Toronto Star in a joint investigation.4 more products test positive for listeria at Maple Leaf's Toronto plantFour product tests at a Maple Leaf plant in Toronto have come up positive for listeria, the deli meat producer at the heart of a deadly nationwide listeriosis outbreak said Wednesday.Chocolate coins sold in Canada tainted with melamineThe Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning the public not to eat, distribute or sell Sherwood brand Pirate's Gold milk chocolate coins imported from China.2.7 million register for do-not-call list in 1st weekIn just one week, almost 2.7 million Canadians have registered on a list of people who no longer want to receive calls from telemarketers.China milk victims may have doubled to over 90,000The toll of Chinese children ill from toxic milk formula may have nearly doubled since the Health Ministry's last public count, local media reports show, but an official said on Wednesday the number of new cases was falling. Consumer Life FeaturesINTERACTIVETaxing timesElections where taxes were a central issueVIDEOAutomotiveGreen Zenn cars roll out in Canada (2:18)SAFETYRecalls and Advisories- Electrical wire splices
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