Fewer homes were built in the Sarnia area in 2019, compared to the year before.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) Senior Analyst Andrew Scott said there was a significant slowdown in new home construction.
"Totals for the whole year in 2019 was 177 and about 162 of those were single-detached homes," said Scott. "So that was actually down 35 per cent from the year before. However, 2018 was a pretty strong year in terms of housing starts. But 2019 when you look at it, historically it is below the average."
Scott said there's certainly the potential for the new home market to pick up.
"When you look at the resale market, it's still fairly active in the Sarnia region, it's a pretty tight market," he said. "Supply is still quite low so I'd imagine there's still a lot of people looking at the new home market, because they probably can't find what they want in the resale market."
In January 2020, there were five housing starts, which is up from three the same month last year.
The numbers include Sarnia, St. Clair Township and Point Edward.