Post by Jari on Aug 11, 2005 0:18:05 GMT -5
Winnipeg housing boom continues
Total starts for 2005 up 15 %over last year
Wed Aug 10 2005
By Murray McNeill
FOR only the third time in the last 15 years, Winnipeg has recorded more than 200 single-family housing starts in a single month.
The Winnipeg Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), which includes Winnipeg and 10 surrounding communities, saw work begin on 202 single-family homes in July, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said yesterday.
The only other times that's happened since 1990 were in May and August of last year, Dianne Himbeault, CMHC's senior market analyst for Winnipeg, said yesterday.
The 202 single-family starts were a 12.8-per-cent increase over the 179 recorded in July of last year. That, combined with a 22.3-per-cent increase in multi-family starts, boosted total starts for July to 339 units, CMHC says -- a 16.5-per-cent improvement over the 291 posted in July 2004.
The strong July numbers appear to lend credence to CMHC's recent prediction that Manitoba will be the only province in Canada to post increases in housing construction over the next two years. The agency predicts the province will see 4,600 new starts in 2005, (compared with 4,440 in 2004), and another 4,800 in 2006.
As encouraging as the July numbers are, the past chairman of the Manitoba Home Builders Association said they would have been even more impressive if Winnipeg wasn't suffering from a severe shortage of serviced lots in the southern half of the city. John Daniels, vice-president of The Qualico Group, noted in an interview the demand for new homes remains strong in Winnipeg, thanks to low interest rates, healthy employment and job creation numbers, and surprisingly strong population growth.
However, the unexpectedly strong demand for new homes over the last three years has also drawn down the supply of serviced lots more quickly than expected. MHBA officials estimate there are fewer than 2,300 serviced lots, about one year's supply, left in the entire city, and essentially none in the popular southwest quadrant.
While the south end had been the fastest growing area of the city in recent years, the CMHC figures show there's been a substantial dropoff in housing starts in the area in 2005. They show starts were down 29 per cent in St. Vital, 23 per cent in Fort Garry, and six per cent in St. Boniface after the first seven months of 2005.
Daniels blames that entirely on the shortage of serviced lots.
Himbeault said she suspects some of that home-building activity may have shifted to northern and eastern parts of the city because housings starts are up 27 per cent in West Kildonan, up more than 100 per cent in East Kildonan, and up 45 per cent in Transcona after the first seven months of 2005.
The CMHC figures show that with the 339 new starts in July, total starts for the first seven months of this year were running 15 per cent ahead of last year's pace. And 2004 was the best year since 1989 for housing starts in the Winnipeg CMA. The bulk of last month's 202 single-family starts -- 150 of them -- were within city limits. That was a 12 per cent increase over the 134 recorded in Winnipeg in July of last year.
Single-family starts were also up 15.6 per cent in the communities surrounding Winnipeg, but were running 18 per cent behind last year's pace.
murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca
Total starts for 2005 up 15 %over last year
Wed Aug 10 2005
By Murray McNeill
FOR only the third time in the last 15 years, Winnipeg has recorded more than 200 single-family housing starts in a single month.
The Winnipeg Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), which includes Winnipeg and 10 surrounding communities, saw work begin on 202 single-family homes in July, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said yesterday.
The only other times that's happened since 1990 were in May and August of last year, Dianne Himbeault, CMHC's senior market analyst for Winnipeg, said yesterday.
The 202 single-family starts were a 12.8-per-cent increase over the 179 recorded in July of last year. That, combined with a 22.3-per-cent increase in multi-family starts, boosted total starts for July to 339 units, CMHC says -- a 16.5-per-cent improvement over the 291 posted in July 2004.
The strong July numbers appear to lend credence to CMHC's recent prediction that Manitoba will be the only province in Canada to post increases in housing construction over the next two years. The agency predicts the province will see 4,600 new starts in 2005, (compared with 4,440 in 2004), and another 4,800 in 2006.
As encouraging as the July numbers are, the past chairman of the Manitoba Home Builders Association said they would have been even more impressive if Winnipeg wasn't suffering from a severe shortage of serviced lots in the southern half of the city. John Daniels, vice-president of The Qualico Group, noted in an interview the demand for new homes remains strong in Winnipeg, thanks to low interest rates, healthy employment and job creation numbers, and surprisingly strong population growth.
However, the unexpectedly strong demand for new homes over the last three years has also drawn down the supply of serviced lots more quickly than expected. MHBA officials estimate there are fewer than 2,300 serviced lots, about one year's supply, left in the entire city, and essentially none in the popular southwest quadrant.
While the south end had been the fastest growing area of the city in recent years, the CMHC figures show there's been a substantial dropoff in housing starts in the area in 2005. They show starts were down 29 per cent in St. Vital, 23 per cent in Fort Garry, and six per cent in St. Boniface after the first seven months of 2005.
Daniels blames that entirely on the shortage of serviced lots.
Himbeault said she suspects some of that home-building activity may have shifted to northern and eastern parts of the city because housings starts are up 27 per cent in West Kildonan, up more than 100 per cent in East Kildonan, and up 45 per cent in Transcona after the first seven months of 2005.
The CMHC figures show that with the 339 new starts in July, total starts for the first seven months of this year were running 15 per cent ahead of last year's pace. And 2004 was the best year since 1989 for housing starts in the Winnipeg CMA. The bulk of last month's 202 single-family starts -- 150 of them -- were within city limits. That was a 12 per cent increase over the 134 recorded in Winnipeg in July of last year.
Single-family starts were also up 15.6 per cent in the communities surrounding Winnipeg, but were running 18 per cent behind last year's pace.
murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca