Housing starts in the area are far behind last year's numbers.
Canada Mortgage and Housing said there was just one single detached start last month in Sarnia, St. Clair Township and Point Edward, compared to 18 in March 2018.
Senior Analyst Andrew Scott said the year-to-date numbers are also lagging well behind with just seven starts compared to 31.
Scott said he expects some improvement as we head into the warmer months.
"I don't think we'll see it stay as low as it's been in the first quarter, I think that was just a bit of a blip considering how busy builders are right now and the fact that we had lower temperatures than normal," said Scott. "I think in general, we'll probably see the real estate market slow down compared to 2017-2018. We've already seen a sort of cooling in terms of sales and home prices."
Scott said while new starts are slow, builders are still quite busy with 164 units currently under construction in the area.