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Strong July boosts Lethbridge housing starts

Aug 9, 2017 | 9:37 AM

LETHBRIDGE — Housing starts in Lethbridge continue to show improvement over last year.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) said Wednesday the Lethbridge Census Metropolitan Area had 63 new homes started in July, up from 48 last year. It’s an increase of 31 per cent. A big part of that was in multi-unit dwellings. 18 new units were started, compared to seven a year ago.

So far this year, there have been 366 new homes started, a three per cent increase from 355 in 2016. 277 of the houses started were single-family dwellings, up from 264, while the 89 multiples was a slight decrease from 91.

Calgary is still running 35 per cent ahead of last year, despite a relatively flat July, while Edmonton had a strong month and is now up 22 per cent over 2016. The Fort McMurray rebuild continues to run strong, with 209 housing starts in July to bring the year to date to nearly 1,000.