Housing starts in May were down in the Saskatoon census metropolitan area (CMA), according to preliminary numbers released by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The recent report shows construction started on 127 less units compared to May 2015.
The decline in overall actual housing starts was led entirely by the multi-units sector, where only four units were started compared to 147 in the same month one year prior.
Construction on 126 new homes began in May 2016 compared to 253 units in May 2015.
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So far this year, there have been 730 total housing starts in the city’s CMA compared to 948 at the same time in 2015.
“This year, total housing starts in the Saskatoon CMA are forecast to range between 1,690 units and 2,010 units, constrained by weak economic conditions and elevated inventory of new housing units,” said Goodson Mwale, CMHC’s senior market analyst for Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan’s total urban starts were at 1,355 by the end of May, down from 1,628 in 2015.
CMHC’s preliminary housing starts for Canada last month were at 15,976.
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