According to the results of the monthly starts survey conducted by CMHC, residential construction declined this past month. In fact, 3,019 dwellings were started in November, or 28 per cent fewer than during the same month in 2006. Much like in October, this result was attributable to a decline in the multiple-family (semi-detached, row and apartment) housing category. "As we said last month, it was to be expected that the strong pace of multi-family housing construction would not be maintained," said Kevin J. Hughes, Senior Economist at CMHC.
For a second straight month, multiple-family housing starts registered a notable decline, as they fell from 2,868 units in November 2006 to 1,654 units in November 2007, for a decrease of 42 per cent. This major drop was due to slowdowns observed in the Gatineau metropolitan area (-90 per cent), as well as in the Trois-Rivières (-85 per cent), Québec (-61 per cent) and Montréal (-29 per cent) census metropolitan areas (CMAs). "The decrease in multi-family housing starts was felt in both the condominium and rental housing segments," added Kevin Hughes. In the smaller urban centres (50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants), the situation remained relatively stable, with 123 multiple-family housing starts enumerated in November.
In the single-detached housing segment, starts stayed at a similar level, with 1,365 new units this past month, compared to 1,339 in November 2006. Most of the CMAs and CAs (census agglomerations, with 50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants) registered increases in activity this past month. However, decreases were recorded in Gatineau (-3 per cent), Québec (-11 per cent) and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (-46 per cent).
In all, 37,983 dwellings were started from January to November in Quebec's urban centres, for an increase of 6 per cent over the total for the first eleven months of 2006. Year-to-date starts are up in most of the CMAs, but the gains are not as widespread in the CAs. Also, activity shows a greater increase for multiple-family housing (+7 per cent) than for single-detached homes (+3 per cent). "The slowdown in starts observed in recent months has significantly reduced the growth in the year-to-date total," said Kevin Hughes.
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