Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Monday there was a significant decline in condominium townhouse and single-family housing construction across the region, with activity in many suburban areas hardest hit.
But in the old city of Ottawa, there was a big pick-up led by Vanier where work started on 189 condominium apartments and 15 townhouses — the strongest performance so far this decade.
CMHC said housing starts overall fell to 411 units from 502 a year earlier. Single-family housing starts fell 21 per cent, townhouses 35 per cent and apartments 14.5 per cent.
Condominium apartments accounted for 213 of new unit construction or 52 per cent of all construction.
“As the pace of new construction enters a cooler trend more consistent with economic and demographic fundamentals, higher-density construction will become the most sought after dwelling type in Ottawa’s new home market,” said Sandra Pérez Torres, senior market analyst at CMHC.
Consistent with previous years, construction of condominium apartments led the way during the first month of the year, while overall higher-density construction accounted for almost three-quarters of total starts in the Ottawa CMA.
Across Ontario, CMHC said that seasonally adjusted housing starts fell to 50,100 in January from 60,300 in December. Single-family housing led a broad-based decline. Approximately three out of four Ontario urban centres experienced declines from a year earlier.
“A cooler labour market, cautious consumer spending and rising inventories in both existing and new home markets dampened the pace of Ontario residential construction activity,” said Ted Tsiakopoulos, CMHC's Ontario regional economist. “Much of the same can be expected in the months ahead as the housing industry adjusts to a slowing economy.”
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