Building permits over the slower winter season in Medicine Hat remained steady with the previous year, according to new figures from the city's planning office.--News Photo Collin Gallant
@MedicineHatNews
Housing starts beat the last year’s pace in the first three months of the year, according to new figures from the City of Medicine Hat’s planning department, though 2024 marked a continued slump in the local homebuilding market.
Six new single-family homes were permitted up to March 31, representing an estimated total budget of $2.9 million. That is double the three homes, valued at $1.2 million, from the first quarter of last year.
Two new duplex projects approved last month make three for the calendar year, valued at just over $1 million.
No new apartment projects were processed. Apartment renovations were done year-over-year (from five permits to one), while other residential alterations were steady early in the construction planning season, though new garage intentions rose from five to nine.
All permits at the end of three months totalled 95 worth $7.46 million, down from 117 worth $9.08 million from the same period one year earlier.
Building boom in Alberta
The provincial government is promoting figures they say shows an 18 per cent rise in housing starts across Alberta in the first quarter of 2025.
That is above a record year in 2024, according to Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services Jason Nixon.
“After a record-breaking 2024, today’s housing starts numbers are just more proof that Alberta’s plan to build homes is working,” he said in a release regarding figures from the January to March period from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
They state one-quarter of new home starts across Canada were located in Alberta.
There were 11,470 in the province during the three-month span, up from 9,744 in early 2024, including 6,271 in Calgary and 4,095 in Edmonton.
Single-family starts specific to March in Lethbridge were 62, up from 40 in March 2024, and in Red Deer 29, up from 12 in the same comparison.
Home starts and permits differ in the construction stage.
CMHC only provides localized data for centres with a population over 100,000 residents.
