In the urban centres of 10 000 inhabitants and more, residential construction has receded in Quebec last June compared to the same period last year, which represents a diminution of 11 %. In total, 3 706 habitations have been put under construction in June of 2008.
Figures are available from a poll done by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
For the first six months of the year 2008 one has noticed a slight increase of 4 % over the same period in 2007, with 20 422 new construction sites. « We have noticed a slowdown during the second quarter, but this was expected, taking into account the strong pace of new construction sites started during the same period last year », mentions Kevin Hughes, regional economist at the CMHC.
The Sherbrooke region, alone, has been the exception registering an increase of new construction sites. During this same period of June 2008, new construction sites in agglomerations of 50 000 to 99 999 inhabitants have grown by 12 %, with increases especially noticed in the regions of Drummondville, Granby and Shawinigan.
In the second quarter, the volume of habitations put on the market has grown by 23 % for the whole of the agglomerations of 10 000 to 49 999 inhabitants.
Once again a decrease was noticed in the field of new construction sites of individual homes in the range of 7 % in June 2008 compared to June of 2007. The most important fallbacks have been registered in the regions of Montreal (- 23 %); Gatineau (- 32 %); and Trois-Rivières (- 34 %). The whole of the first six months of 2008 also indicates a decrease of 6 % compared to the same period last year.
One has also noticed a diminution by 14 % of new construction sites for collective housing: this includes duplexes, row-houses and apartments. However, the regions of Sherbrooke and Gatineau experience a stability of new construction sites in this segment of the market.