ASHLEY FORD
Province
Powered by multiple-housing starts Greater Vancouver saw its second-highest monthly starts ever last month, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said yesterday.
Multiple starts — that now comprise 75 per cent of all new housing construction in the Lower Mainland — shot ahead by 121 per cent to 1,573 units compared to 711 a year ago.
Multiple starts, however, tend to come in bunches due to the permit-approval process and on an annual basis they are only running 2.5-per-cent ahead of a year ago while single-family homes have fallen off by 14.3 per cent.
Overall housing starts are down 2.5 per cent to 15,942 from last year’s 16,350.
Affordability and land costs are the drivers for multiple housing, says Peter Simpson, CEO of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association. Twenty years ago single family housing represented 55 per cent of new housing construction, he said.
Today, multiple homes comprise 75 per cent of the market. “Higher land and development costs are forcing builders and developers to constantly strive to produce the most innovative housing at the best possible price In this market it is multiple housing.”
Cameron Muir, senior market analyst at CMHC, says “three out of every four new homes built today are either apartments or townhouses. Strong consumer demand is largely being driven by superior location, relative affordability and the interactive lifestyle of urban living that a condominium residence provides.”
In its latest housing outlook RE/MAX says prices in Vancouver, Kelowna and Calgary will increase by about 10 per cent next year. That is in stark comparison to the rest of the country’s major markets, where price increases are expected to be in the more modest two-to-five-per-cent range.
But there could be a slight glimmer of hope for some relief for B.C. and Alberta buyers next year.
“Affordability has certainly been a major concern, particularly in markets in B.C. and Alberta, where average price has experienced strong upward momentum,” said Elton Ash, regional executive vice-president of RE/MAX Western Canada.
“An influx of new listing in the marketplace would ease some of the upward pressure on housing values and allow purchasers the luxury of time when buying a home,” he added.
