An increase in housing starts in December put the lid on a solid year for home builders in the London area.
Figures released Monday by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation show work began on a total of 101 new homes in the London Census Metropolitan Area in December, compared to 73 in the same month of 2014. Of the 101, 85 were single detached homes while 16 were multiple unit homes.
“Single-detached starts trended up, roughly offsetting the downward trend for multi-unit starts,” says Anthony Passarelli, Senior Market Analyst with CMHC. “Job growth and low mortgage rates have made it easier for existing homeowners to find a buyer and upgrade to a new single-detached home.”
But while the number of multiple unit starts was down in December, it was apartment construction that led to the increase in overall starts in 2015.
Work began on 1,058 multiple unit homes last year, compared to 867 in 2014. That was enough to overcome a drop in single detached home construction, which saw a drop from 1,116 in 2014 to 1,047 in 2015.
Overall, there were 2,105 housing starts in the London area last year, up from 1,983 in 2014.
