New housing investment in Saskatchewan fell 30% in January

Regina Leader Post, March 22, 2016- The Prairies bucked the national trend in January, posting double-digit declines in the value of new housing construction, compared with a four per cent increase nationally, according to Statistics Canada.

Saskatchewan saw the biggest plunge in percentage terms among the three Prairie provinces, posting a 30 per cent drop in investment in new housing construction to $90.9 million in January from $129.7 million in the same period last year, the federal agency said Monday.

In dollar terms, Alberta took the biggest hit, plunging 19.3 per cent to $685.4 million from $849.5 million in January 2015. Manitoba saw a 14.7 per cent decrease to $78.5 million from $92.1 million in January last year.

Nationally, investment in new residential building construction increased 3.9 per cent year over year to $3.7 billion in January, driven by higher spending on apartment and apartment-condominium buildings (19.9 per cent) and row houses (7.6 per cent). However, 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, due to higher spending on single-family dwellings, apartment and apartment-condominium buildings, and row houses. Construction spending for semi-detached buildings posted a decline.

B.C. was the second-largest provincial contributor of investment in new housing construction in January, as spending rose 14.3 per cent to $695 million compared with the same month a year earlier. The 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.

In Quebec, investment in new housing construction totalled $512 million in January, up 1.1 per cent compared with January 2015. This gain was the result of increased spending on apartment and apartment-condominium buildings, which more than offset lower investment in single-family buildings, semi-detached dwellings and row houses.

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