Alberta recorded 19 per cent fewer housing starts during the first seven months of 2026 than during the same period last year, according to new Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data.

Builders began work on 26,118 homes across the province from January through July. That was down from 32,268 during the same months of 2025.

The change was uneven across Alberta's larger centres.

Red Deer recorded 270 starts through July, nine per cent fewer than the 297 reported one year earlier.

The city's total included 63 single-detached homes and 207 units in other housing types. During the same period in 2025, Red Deer recorded 78 single-detached starts and 219 other units.

Calgary had 12,855 starts, down 23 per cent from 16,601. Edmonton recorded 10,858, down 17 per cent from 13,059.

Lethbridge moved in the other direction. Its total increased 31 per cent to 539 starts, compared with 412 through July 2025.

Housing starts measure when construction reaches a defined beginning stage. They do not count planned homes that have received approval but have not entered construction.

They also do not show whether new homes are affordable to local buyers or renters.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts fell five per cent in July to 229,074 units from 240,773 in June.

CMHC's six-month trend measure changed little, slipping 0.5 per cent to 247,377 units.

Actual July starts in urban centres with at least 10,000 people were down 19 per cent from a year earlier. The national January-to-July total was 131,851, four per cent below the same period in 2025.

The agency reported 373,091 homes under construction in centres with at least 50,000 people, up 0.6 per cent from June.

Completions increased 8.1 per cent from June to 19,773 units. The number of approved units that had not started construction rose three per cent to 141,480.

For central Alberta, the Red Deer decline follows a sharp rise in construction during 2025. That earlier increase was supported by apartment development, making year-to-year comparisons sensitive to the timing of large projects.

The provincial figures do not explain why starts changed in each community. Building permits, financing costs, land availability, labour, servicing capacity and the timing of multi-unit developments can all affect monthly totals.