Housing starts in Greater Victoria slid by 53 per cent last month compared with July of last year, according to data from sa国际传媒 Mortgage and Housing Corp.
The data, which are not seasonally adjusted, show a total of 459 new homes were started in July of this year in the capital region, down from 968 for the same month a year ago, the national housing agency said.
Most of the new homes started are multi-family. Just 31 single-family homes got underway in July.
Other CMHC figures show that across the country, the annual pace of housing starts in July fell 10 per cent compared with June.
CMHC seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in July came in at 254,966 units compared with 283,498 in June.
The annual pace of urban starts was down 11 per cent in July at 234,857, while the rate of multi-unit urban starts fell 12 per cent to 193,446 and the pace of single-detached urban starts dropped four per cent to 41,411.
CMHC says the annual pace of starts in July in Vancouver fell 23 per cent, while Toronto dropped 29 per cent. Meanwhile, Montreal rose 12 per cent, Calgary gained 33 per cent and Edmonton added six per cent.
The annual rate of rural starts was estimated at 20,109 for July.
The six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 242,525 in July, up from 235,819 in June.
