Investment in new housing construction in Alberta fell in June compared with a year ago, according to Statistics Canada.
The federal agency reported on Tuesday that investment in the province was $694.4 million for the month, which was down 2.7 per cent from a year ago.
However, across the country, investment climbed by 6.3 per cent year over year to $5 billion.
“The year-over-year increase was mainly attributable to higher spending on apartment building construction, while investment in single family homes declined for the fourth consecutive month,” said StatsCan.
Spending rose in seven provinces, led by Quebec (+$206.0 million), British Columbia (+$76.0 million) and Ontario (+$46.3 million). In all three provinces, the increase was led by investment in apartment building construction, added the federal agency.
“Multiple-unit construction was the sole driver behind the growth in British Columbia. For the first time since March 2017, the province reported a year-over-year decrease in spending on single home construction, down 1.4 per cent or $6.1 million compared with June 2017,” it said.
In the single-detached market, spending was $2.4 billion in Canada, down 5.6 per cent from a year ago.
The semi-detached market saw an increase of 6.7 per cent to $245 million and the row market saw a hike of 0.6 per cent to $470.4 million.
In the apartment category, spending rose to nearly $2 billion, up 27.5 per cent from last year.
Mario Toneguzzi is a veteran Calgary-based journalist who worked for 35 years for the Calgary Herald in various capacities, including 12 years as a senior business writer.
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