Big apartment project boosts local housing starts in January

WATERLOO REGION – Housing starts in Waterloo Region surged in January due to construction of a large apartment building in Waterloo.

Builders started 467 housing units in the Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo census metropolitan area last month, more than double the 177 units started in January a year ago, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Wednesday.

Last month’s total was boosted by 362 apartment starts, including a 358-unit building on Erb Street in Waterloo.

Although that single project skews last month’s numbers, the increase in apartment construction reflects a trend as young adults, immigrants and downsizing baby boomers boost demand for apartment-style accommodation, said Erica McLerie, a senior market analyst with the housing corporation.

Foundations were poured for 75 single-detached homes last month, down from 93 in January a year ago.

Nationally, the pace of housing starts slowed slightly in January, mainly because of sharp decreases in Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

The housing agency said the seasonally adjusted annual start rate was 197,900 units in January, down from 199,900 units in December.

The seasonally adjusted figure attempts to smooth out monthly variations and calculates an annual total as if the January rate continued for 12 months.

The actual number of units begun in January was 12,950.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts decreased by 2.8 per cent to 176,600 units in January, with single starts down by 7.8 per cent and multiple starts up 0.4 per cent.

Urban starts decreased by 35.4 per cent in Atlantic Canada and by 34.4 per cent in Quebec on a seasonally adjusted annual rate.

On the same basis, rural starts were estimated at 21,300 units in January.

With files from The Canadian Press

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Big apartment project boosts local housing starts in January