New housing starts down in Saskatoon during January: CMHC

Housing starts in Saskatoon are down when compared to a year ago according to new data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

According to CMHC, there were 59 housing starts in the Saskatoon census metropolitan area (CMA) in January, down from the 140 starts in January 2016.

READ MORE: Saskatoon housing starts down in 2016

Goodson Mwale, CMHC’s senior market analyst for Saskatchewan, said the downtrend was due to weak economic conditions and a high number of unsold homes.

“Total housing starts trended lower in January after local builders decreased production of both single-detached and multi-unit dwellings, Mwale said in a statement.

“In 2017, residential construction in the Saskatoon CMA will be constrained by relatively weak economic and labour market conditions, and by elevated inventory of completed and unsold units.”

READ MORE: Saskatoon housing market remains problematic: CMHC

Last month, CMHC said Saskatoon’s housing market was problematic due to strong evidence of overbuilding, especially in the multi-family and apartment condominium sectors.

Overall, construction started on 48 single-family homes and 11 multi-family dwellings during the month.