According to results of the last monthly poll taken by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), new residential housing starts have increased in August of 2009 if one compares with the same period last year. It is noted that 3.409 dwellings were put under construction during this period from August 2009 compared to 3.082 one year before.
“Until now in 2009, residential construction in the urban centres is falling by 16%. A less important decrease on the side of collective housing (- 10% against -25% for individual homes) translated, amongst other things, a turn towards more affordable dwellings,” notes Kevin Hughes, regional economist at the CMHC.
It is collective housing (including the semi-detached houses or row-houses or apartments) that have caused the rise of new housing starts in August 2009. A situation observed in the Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs): a decrease of 21% of new housing starts for individual homes and a rise of 37% for the collective dwellings.
In the towns of 50.000 to 99.999 inhabitants, new housing starts increased by 68% in the month of August (223 in 2009 and 133 in 2008). New collective housing starts have made great strides in construction, up to a 100%.