There were no single detached new home housing starts in Thompson again during the fourth quarter of 2010, says Winnipeg-based Dianne Himbeault, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) senior market analyst for the Prairie and Territories Region.There were three single detached new home housing starts in Thompson during the second quarter and none again as well in the first or third quarters. Single detached new home housing starts in Thompson dropped by 50 per cent in 2010 compared to 2009 - from six to three - after in turn plummeting 86 per cent in 2009 to six from 43 in 2008.Single family starts went from 24 in 2007 to 43 in 2008 - an increase of 79.2 per cent - and the highest number of housing starts in the last eight years. The last quarter to record multiple family housing starts was more than two years ago during the fourth quarter of 2008 when four semis and four row (townhouse) units were started. Multiple family housing starts went from two in 2007 to eight in 2008, all started in the final quarter. Combined there were 51 housing starts in Thompson in 2008, compared to 26 in 2007, representing a 96.2 per cent increase.No multiple family housing units have been started since then, but city council in a 5-3 vote last week approved a zoning change that will allow 24 student and family housing units to go ahead as townhouses adjacent to the planned new University College of the North (UCN) campus near the Thompson Regional Community Centre. Construction, barring possible legal appeals by objectors to the Manitoba Municipal Board on planning issues, or subsequently the Court of Queen's Bench on a point or points of law, is expected to begin this spring.A June 2008 deal between Winn Can Properties Ltd. and the City of Thompson to build 110 new homes in the Burntwood South subdivision by the end of 2011 collapsed at the end of 2009 with no new homes being built. The developer has forfeited its $30,000 deposit.Winn Can, comprised of a Winnipeg group of investors, including lawyer Paul Edwards, working in conjunction with Schickedanz West, a division of Calgary-based Schickedanz Bros. Construction, was to build the first 30 homes by the end of 2009.
