Fewer single-family homes were built in the nation’s capital last month than the same time last year, but resale home buying was up, thanks to low mortgage rates and labour income growth, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Wednesday.
Last month, Ottawa saw 422 total housing starts, down from 639 units in August 2008.
The decline can be attributed mainly to the lack of construction activity within the highly volatile apartment market segment, said CMHC senior market analyst Sandra Pérez Torres.
Although the month saw relatively healthy activity coming from town home construction and a doubling in starts of semi-detached homes, the condominium apartment market segment remains weak, she said.
Kanata and Nepean saw the most building activity, while Cumberland and Goulbourn had the least.
