EDMONTON - Homebuilders in the Edmonton census metropolitan area were less busy in April than they were a year earlier.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Monday 758 homes were started in the month, down 46.1 per cent from 1,407 in April 2010.

Single-detached homebuilders began construction on 436 units in April, a decrease of 30 per cent from 620 a year earlier.

“This time last year the industry was working hard to replenish depleted inventories, whereas this spring the volume of complete and unabsorbed units is considerably higher,” CMHC senior market analyst for Edmonton Richard Goatcher said.

The federal agency said multi-family homes also fell year-over-year to 322 units, down 59 per cent from 787.

For the year to date, total housing starts in the Edmonton CMA fell 32.5 per cent to 2,323.

Housing starts in Alberta’s seven largest centres decreased by 41 per cent year-over-year to 1,501 homes.

Todd Hirsch, a senior economist with ATB Financial, described Alberta’s housing market as an enigma for 2011.

“Prices for existing homes are steady, suggesting an improving market,” Hirsch said in his daily economic comment.

“But new homebuilders are not feeling the love — at least not yet. Do April housing starts represent a ‘failure to launch?’”

He said weekly earnings and 12-month job numbers are improving while mortgage rates remain attractive — which should mean a rebounding residential construction market.

“However, as Statistics Canada reported last week, the value of residential building permits issued in April shot up by about 25 per cent month-over-month. This suggests that housing starts could still pick up, so hope remains for 2011.”