Housing Starts to Decline in New Brunswick

MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK--(Marketwired - Oct. 30, 2014) - According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's (CMHC's) Fall Housing Market Outlook - Saint John, Moncton and Fredericton report, residential construction in New Brunswick's large urban centres is expected to decline until 2016.

"Rising out-migration will negatively impact demand for new single-detached homes while persistently high vacancy rates in the province's large urban centres will slow multi-residential construction activity, resulting in an overall decline in total housing starts in 2015 and 2016," said Claude Gautreau, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for New Brunswick. Rapid expansion of the rental universe in some markets combined with out-migration has exerted upward pressure on the vacancy rate.

Expect the resale market to remain slow in 2015 and 2016. Compared to the new home market, however, the slowdown in activity will be relatively modest over the forecast period. "With active listings at or near record levels, the combination of slowing sales activity and high inventory levels will also limit price growth over the forecast period," added Gautreau.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable housing solutions. CMHC also provides reliable, impartial and up-to-date housing market reports, analysis and knowledge to support and assist consumers and the housing industry in making informed decisions.

For more information, visit www.cmhc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642. CMHC Market Analysis standard reports are also available free for download at CMHC Housing Market Information.

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Additional data is available upon request.

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