Residential housing starts had a strong start to 2006 with ten single-detached housing starts, doubling the 10-year average of five January starts in Greater Sudbury according to data released by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
Warren Philp, Northern Ontario market analyst with CMHC, said that despite January being an above-average month, starts were down two units from 12 in 2005.
"The mild January weather surely contributed to a good month," Philp said in a press release. "Low mortgage rates, demand in move-up home-buying ranges and lower levels of listings continue to spur Greater Sudbury starts."
"Baby boomers wanting a house type not available on the resale market are fuelling demand."
If the CMHC's annual trends are any indication, there will be little activity to report in the market this month as February has been the worst month for housing starts in both 2004 and 2005.