Housing Starts down in Vancouver in this week’s Around Town
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in October rose eight per cent compared with September, with seven percent in multi-unit starts. The Prairies, Quebec and Atlantic provinces have seen higher activity this year, while Ontario and B.C. recorded declines.
Housing starts between January and October 2024 were up 12 per cent in Montreal from the same period last year, Toronto starts were down 21 per cent. Vancouver starts were down 18 per cent after a record high year in 2023.
CMHC has noted several broad trends in the construction sector, including the highest share on record for purpose-built rental apartments in 2024. Purpose-built rentals made up nearly half of all apartment starts, reflecting changing demographics, home affordability, and the struggle developers are having to reach the minimum pre-construction sales needed to start construction of condominium apartments.
At the same time, developers are focusing on clearing backlogs of projects under construction. As a result, new records were set in 2024 for apartment completions in major markets like Montreal and Vancouver.
Despite these records, there were not enough housing starts to meet growing demographic demand. There is the expectation the variety of supply will change in step with municipal and provincial policies aimed at better meeting the needs of a broad range of buyers and renters.
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