Housing starts recorded this year similar to last year’s numbers

The number of single-family home starts in Thunder Bay continues to rival last year's numbers.

While there were no multifamily starts last month, July saw construction begin on 34 single-detached homes throughout the Thunder Bay area. In July 2010, the city saw 28.

And so far for the year, there have been 99 single-family starts, which is two less than 2010. 

Canada Mortgage and Housing market analyst Warren Philp said although he is a little surprised by the strength of the home-building market this year, there is a good reason behind the trend.

“One has to keep in mind also that the resale market is tight, there’s not a lot of listings out there so people are realling looking to new construction as an alternative if they are seriously looking  at purchasing a house.”

Philp added that of the 34 home starts in July, just 17 of them were within the Thunder Bay city limits. Thirteen were in the Oliver Paipoonge area. 

But he said this is a bit of an anomaly, because there isn't an overall trend to new starts in the outlying areas.

The housing-start statistics record all housing starts within the census Thunder Bay metropolitan area, which includes communities adjacent to the City of Thunder Bay.