The topic of residential construction has been garnering more than its share of headlines in this province for months as builders fight to find new business in a sea of inventory. The Home Builders associations have been especially vocal on this front, pushing for an easing of the stress test in a bid to allow more buyers into the market.
At the same time, the International Monetary Fund this week warned against such a move saying we need to keep a lid on this market for a while yet as debt levels are high and prices are beginning to move.
A report from March on the state of new home construction shows a major retrenchment going on. Saskatchewan is getting to the front of the curve as our contraction is one of the smaller ones in the country at 5.6 per cent, while some are seeing double-digit contraction.
The big pullback is in single-family homes. Across Canada, the amount of money going into this type of unit has dropped by 45 per cent in the past 12 months.
