CALGARY - Housing starts in the Calgary census metropolitan area ballooned in March compared with year-ago levels.

According to preliminary figures released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., total housing starts in the Calgary CMA reached 904 units in March, up from 297 units in the previous year. To the end of March, total housing starts increased from 746 units in 2009 to 2,161 units in 2010.

In March, single-detached production was over three times higher with 570 units breaking ground compared with 171 units a year earlier.

“Recent sales activity and the decline in inventory have contributed to the rise in starts,” said Richard Cho, senior market analyst in Calgary for the CMHC. “The housing market has improved considerably since the first quarter of 2009 when builders were facing elevated inventories and weaker demand conditions.”

In the first quarter, the number of single-detached units started increased from 559 units in 2009 to 1,528 units this year.

Multi-family production which consists of semi-detached, row, and apartment units, reached 334 starts in March, an increase from the 126 units started a year earlier.

“This represents the third consecutive month where multi-family starts increased on a year-over-year basis,” said Cho.

To the end of March, there were 633 multi-family starts, up from 187 units in the first three months of 2009.

“For the balance of 2010, activity is forecast to surpass 2009 levels but still remain below historical norms due to elevated inventories,” said Cho.

Housing starts in Alberta’s seven largest centres totalled 1,957 units in March, compared with 605 units in March 2009.