Article content

Housing starts in the Calgary region continued their slide in July as construction slowed across much of the country, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Tuesday.

Total July starts for Calgary were down 43 per cent from a year earlier, falling to 770 units from 1,354. The slowdown touched both the single-detached market — where starts declined 53 per cent to 310 units — and the multi-family segment, down 33 per cent to 460 units.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or New housing construction plunge continues in Calgary Back to video

“Throughout 2015 we have really seen a slower pace of activity especially compared with 2014 but it’s important to keep in mind that last year was also a record year,” said Richard Cho, a CMHC analyst in Calgary. “The economy has slowed down obviously and the price for oil has played a big role in that. We are seeing slower employment growth, slower migration. These are obviously important factors that help drive housing demand.”

Cho said CMHC doesn’t expect a sharp rebound in activity for the balance of 2015.