Good times rolling as growth continues in construction, sales
Ashley Ford
Province
CREDIT: Jason Payne, The Province Part of the B.C. building boom, roofer Dave Dunster works on a condominium project yesterday in Port Coquitlam.
B.C.’s housing industry is riding a wave of activity not seen since the boom years of a decade ago.
Housing starts are leaping ahead and have been matched with steadily increasing sales, especially in the more affordable condominium market, in the Lower Mainland.
And this morning, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s annual housing outlook conference will be told the good times will roll into next year across B.C., the only province expected to show growth in both construction and sales.
The latest building permit numbers from Statistics Canada released yesterday show housing permits worth $435 million were issued in B.C. in September, a 23.5-per-cent increase over August.
The value of housing permits nationally rose 10 per cent to a record $2.9 billion, surpassing the previous record of $2.86 billion set in July.
“Yes, we are busy but it is still manageable. We are not at a crisis point by any means,” says Peter Simpson, chief operating officer of the Great Vancouver Home Builders’ Association. “Apart from the odd isolated incident we are not having any problems with closing dates, so homebuyers are not being inconvenienced with delivery delays,” he said.
“This still doesn’t compare with the boom of 1993 and most contractors who plan carefully are coping well,” he says. “You have to remember that in 1994 we had 21,300 starts, and this year we will have 14,500,” he said.
Neil Ziola, owner of Sure-Lok Homes who specializes in townhouse and apartment construction says the key is careful forward planning. “Most of the reputable contractors do that and are not running into major labour problems.”
However, Ziola acknowledged that pressure is starting to come on the wage front. “For years the wages for a carpenter were in the $20- to $24-per-hour range and they have risen by 20 per cent in the last 18 months. It’s the same right across the trades,” he says.
The building activity is being powered by the pace of home sales and continuing low mortgage rates. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, says overall sales increased by 31.4 per cent last month from a year ago, with 3,765 units selling compared with 2,866 a year ago.
While the pace was not as frenetic in the Fraser Valley, sales are running 21 per cent ahead of where they were a year ago.
REBGV president Bill Binnie says “condominium sales are significant. First-time homebuyers and seniors moving from the family home in particular, are choosing to purchase condos.”
Prices continue to spiral upwards. The benchmark price of an apartment now stands at $208,340, an increase of 16.4 per cent from a year ago. A single family home now stands at $444,890, an increase of 15.4 per cent, and a townhouse has risen 17.2 per cent from a year ago to $286,710.
Although the buying frenzy slowed a little in the valley last month — there was a two-per-cent drop in sales over September — Reg Davies, president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board says the activity still “reflects an optimistic consumer.”
In October, the average price of a single-family home was $309,746, a two-per-cent increase over September and a 14-per-cent climb from a year ago.
Townhouses went for an average $194,746, only a slight increase over September while apartments climbed by 4.5 per cent to $194,746 last month over September and are up 13.7 per cent from a year ago.
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