The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has released its year-end statistics for local home construction.
The CMHC says there were nine new single-family home starts in Thunder Bay during the month of December. That's down from 16 during the same month in 2012.
But CMHC Market Analyst Warren Philp points out that 2012 was a boom year, and 2013 wasn't too bad in comparison.
The number of single-detached homes dipped from 227 to 193 last year. And the number of multi-unit residences also fell, from 153 down to 131.
That means the total new homes dropped from 380 in 2012, down to 324. But compared to the 30-year average, Philp says 2013 was not a bad year.
Philp adds that local employment levels are trending one-and-a-half percent higher than 2012 according to Statistics Canada, which bodes well for housing starts in 2014.
(Thunder Bay Television)
