P.A. housing slump mirrored across province and nation
Prince Albert’s housing construction scene may be in the doldrums, but the city is not alone as latest figures show the severe decline is widespread across the province and in other parts of the nation.
Statistics released this week by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) showed Saskatchewan had the nation’s second-largest decline in housing starts in July compared to last year. Only Prince Edward Island was worse. Saskatchewan saw a 46 per cent slump in the construction of single- and multi-family dwellings, and a total of 231 units were under construction last month compared to 425 in July of 2017.
“So far in 2018, modest economic growth has kept residential construction below the levels seen during the same period of 2017,” the CMHC said in a media release.
According to the CMHC, only 75 multi-family units were being built in Saskatchewan last month, whereas that figure stood at 206 in July last year.