Vancouver‘s housing boom is fuelling the country’s record-breaking increase in building permits, according to a Statistics Canada report released yesterday.

Across the country, the value of building permits issued by municipalities jumped 27.1 per cent in June over the previous month to $5.3 billion, setting a new monthly record as well as exceeding the $5-billion mark for the first time.

In B.C., the value of housing permits issued in June increased nearly 80 per cent, to $796 million, setting a new monthly record for the province.

But the real force behind the explosive growth are multi-family developments across the Lower Mainland where the number of building permits for housing increased by 58 per cent in the first six months of 2004 compared to the same period last year.

At Vancouver City Hall, staff are busy processing the steady stream of permits.

“It is hectic here,” said Rick Scobie, director of development services for the city. “We’re offering overtime to staff just to keep up with the processing, but our timelines have been going up because of the increasing volume.”

Scobie said in June alone, his staff issued building permits worth half a billion dollars — the amount usually processed in six months. “We did half a year’s work in one month and we were already tracking month to month ahead of last year,” he said. “We’re coping, but we’re busy.”

Cameron Muir, senior market analyst for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC), said the demand for new housing is expected to remain strong for at least the next few years, and the building-permit numbers indicate construction activity will continue at a good pace this year.

“Building permits are a kind of forward indicator about what will be happening in the new few months,” Muir said.

“They give an indication there’s going to be a significant number of housing starts during the balance of the year.” Muir’s prediction will be confirmed this morning with CMHC’s release of the July housing start numbers.

So far this year, housing starts in the Lower Mainland are up 40 per cent over the first seven months of 2003 and most of the growth is in multi-unit construction.

Starts are down for the month of July, however, mainly due to a big jump in multiple starts during the previous few months.

“Condominium developers are working flat out to satisfy demand,” Muir said.

“The Greater Vancouver market is the hottest in the country.”

Despite the number of new condos under construction, the inventory of completed new units is at a historic low in the Lower Mainland. Last month, there were no new apartments available in downtown Vancouver and only 68 in the entire Lower Mainland.

Five years ago, there were 2,600 new condos available for sale during the same period.

“I don’t remember the last time it was like that,” Muir said yesterday. “Even if demand dropped, all those new units are sold and the ones under construction are mostly pre-sold. If you want a new unit, you’re going to have to wait.”

Last week, CMHC predicted that home-building starts this year will reach their highest level since the late 1980s housing boom, due to the lowest mortgage rates in several decades and continued employment growth.

In B.C., the construction industry is the most powerful element in the province’s economy and has created 10,000 new jobs so far this year.

© The Vancouver Province 2004