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Housing starts down to end 2016

Housing starts in the Oshawa area trended lower to end the year, according to new data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

December saw a six month moving average of 2,026 housing starts for the Oshawa census metropolitan area, down from 2,523 the month before. The Oshawa CMA also includes Whitby and Clarington.

“Although total starts trended lower in the Oshawa CMA in December, overall new home construction activity remains in line with the 10 year average. The area benefits from rising number of price-sensitive homebuyers flocking here for relatively more affordable homes,” states Andrew Scott, CMHC’s senior market analyst for the GTA, in a news release.

“The actual number of starts for 2016 was 2,491, down 3.7 per cent from 2015. The decline was the result of fewer single-detached starts. Notwithstanding, the number of multi-unit starts were up by 32.2 per cent.”

The trends seen in the Oshawa area reflected what was happening across the province, with Ontario seeing 71,096 housing starts in the final month of 2016, down from 72,427 the month before.

“Despite a second consecutive monthly decline in the residential construction trend in December, Ontario housing starts grew in 2016 to one of the highest levels in over a decade,” states Ted Tsiakopoulos, CMHC’s Ontario regional economist, in a separate news release.

“Single detached starts drove starts activity while condo construction eased last year from exceptionally strong levels in 2015. Stronger growth in the Ontario economy, low vacancy rates and less choice in the resale market, particularly for single family homes, pushed starts higher in 2016.”

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