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New home construction declined overall in Alberta by 19.3 per cent in January 2016 over last year, according to Statistics Canada. CREB®Now file photo

March 24, 2016 | CREBNow

Alberta new home construction slows in January

New homes construction in Calgary fell by 19.3 per cent in January

According to Statistics Canada, investment in new housing construction declined overall in Alberta by 19.3 per cent in January 2016 over last year.

Spending in the province decreased in all dwelling types except apartment and apartment-condominium buildings, which rose 22.5 per cent to $195 million.

With spending falling from $849.5 million to $685.4 million, Alberta's drop was the largest decline nationwide, with Saskatchewan's 30 per cent decline amounting to a cut of just $30 million.

Nationally, investment in new residential building construction increased 3.9 per cent year-over-year to $3.7 billion in January. The increase was driven by higher spending on apartment and apartment-condominium buildings (+19.9 per cent) and row houses (+7.6 per cent) in January. Conversely, investment in single-family dwellings fell 4.0 per cent from January 2015, and spending on semi-detached buildings decreased 16.4 per cent.

Increases in new housing construction investment were recorded in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.

Spending in Ontario increased 23.4 per cent year over year to $1.5 billion in January. This gain was attributable to higher spending on single-family dwellings, apartment and apartment-condominium buildings, and row houses. Construction spending for semi-detached buildings posted a decline.

British Columbia became the second largest provincial contributor of investment in new housing construction in January, as spending rose 14.3 per cent compared with the same month a year earlier to $695 million. This increase was mainly driven by investment in apartment and apartment-condominium buildings. Investment in single-family dwellings and row houses also contributed to the advance, while spending on semi-detached buildings declined.