Condo construction leads Metro Vancouver housing starts

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Housing starts are up in B.C. year-over-year, according to new data, despite the country’s annual pace slowing in June.

Statistics Canada says the number of single-detached homes being built jumped 20 per cent province-wide last month, compared to June 2020. Metro Vancouver’s starts increased over 50 per cent in the first half of 2021, compared to the same period last year.

The construction of condo developments is driving the increase in Metro Vancouver, with a 65 per cent increase over the year-ago period, however construction of single-detached homes saw a 13 per cent decrease.

Construction was started on 15,294 units between January and June of this year.

Higher home prices, low interest rates, and continued confidence in the long-term local economic growth helped developers move ahead with planned projects, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. And because land prices continue to climb, it expects construction of multi-family buildings will continue to make up the majority of new builds in the region.

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The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts fell 1.5 per cent to 282,070 units in June compared with 286,296 in May.

The annual pace of urban starts fell 1.8 per cent in June to 251,190 as the pace of starts for apartments, condos and other types of multiple-unit housing projects rose 0.6 per cent to 191,085.

Starts of single-detached urban homes fell 8.5 per cent to 60,105.

CMHC estimated rural starts at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 30,880 units.

The six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 293,567 in June, up from 284,837 in May.