Hamilton outlook good for more new housing: Report

It has not been a great year for new housing projects in Hamilton, but a report from the Conference Board of Canada says that will change in 2016.

The monthly metropolitan housing starts report released Wednesday by the board placed Hamilton in the "up-up" section, meaning there is a positive outlook for short and long-term housing starts in Hamilton.

In September, a report from the board said the economy in Hamilton had slowed and housing starts dropped significantly. A second report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in early December noted this year through to the end of November, 1,884 housing units were started. That is compared to 2,700 units in the same timeframe in 2014.

Conference Board of Canada economist Jane McIntyre said in an interview Wednesday to not make too much out of the drop. She said it was primarily because of larger housing projects that were started before 2015 being completed this year.

"It is down this year, but moving forward, we will see growth," she said.

The report released Wednesday looks at residential building permits for the short-term forecast.

"If those are up, that signals to us there are new projects coming up," McIntyre said, noting this is the case for Hamilton.

The September report predicted housing starts in Hamilton should increase by 29.5 per cent in 2016. That upward trend is expected to continue to 2019, the report said.

For the long-term forecast in Wednesday's report, McIntyre said they consider factors such as employment in the city, movement from Toronto, new residents - all things that drive growth.

Hamilton joins nine other municipalities in the "up-up" section, including Toronto, Vancouver, Quebec City and Moncton, N.B.

Kitchener-Waterloo had the biggest year-over-year decrease in housing starts last month and the housing starts outlook for that city is considered down-down, the report said.