Contrary to many other large regions, like the Canadian West, Quebec continues to know a progression of its new residential construction sites, obtaining a gain of 10 % of these in October 2008, if one compares with the same period last year. These statistics have been released by the CMHC by way of its monthly poll.
In the urban centres of 10 000 inhabitants and more one has registered a total of 3 907 new construction sites for dwellings, in October 2008, whereas one year before 3 561 new construction sites were reported.
One also notices that, from January to October of 2008, 34 334 new dwellings have been put under construction. A slight decrease of 2%, however, will have been registered compared to the same period in 2007.
Results were not the same for last month, in the largest agglomerations (50 000 to 99 999 inhabitants), in October of 2008. The number of new construction sites has decreased in the Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) of Montreal and of Trois-Rivières. The regions of Gatineau, Quebec City and Sherbrooke, however, have known increases.
The final result for the increase has been influenced by new collective housing (duplexes or row-houses and apartments) whose new construction sites have been in progression by 17 % in October of 2008 compared to the month of October of last year. The most important growth has been noticed in the regions of Gatineau, Sherbrooke and of Granby. On the other hand, new construction sites for collective housing have diminished by 6 % in the CMA of Montreal.
As far as individual homes are concerned, the downward trend of new construction sites in this component perpetuates itself and in October of 2008 one has had to notice another diminution of 5 % in comparison with October 2007.