Housing starts in Alberta stood at 33,586 units (seasonally adjusted at an annual rate or SAAR) in August, down 8,662 units (-20.5%) from July but 2,627 units (+8.5%) higher than 12 months earlier.

Starts declined in Edmonton by 17.5% and in Calgary by 38.3%, where they were at their lowest level since January.

Despite the monthly drop, new home construction in Alberta has remained bullish so far this year. Starts averaged 36,437 units through August, up by 5,453 units (+17.6%) from 2021 levels and the highest average for this period seen since 2015.

In comparison, year-to-date national housing starts fell by 24,471 units (-8.6%) with most of the decline concentrated in central Canada. In fact, Alberta posted the largest gains (in terms of the number of units) out of all provinces over the first eight months of 2022.

Clearly, rising interest rates have started to weigh on new construction. We expect activity to temper more in future months, but Alberta should still fare better than most other regions in the country due to ongoing economic momentum.

Answer to the previous trivia question: Eminent economist Adam Smith was the first Scot to be featured on an English banknote.

Today’s trivia question: In what year was the Bank of England founded?