According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the single family housing market is performing well and overall new housing construction is in line with key economic indicators.

There were a total of1,173 housing starts for the Vancouver CMA reported in May 2010. Construction of single family detached homes has increased and is now currently above the 10 year historical average, however starts of multi-unit housing are lagging and are currently below their 10 year average. As a result total housing starts year –to-date, currently 5,631, are well below the 10 year average of 6,495.

New construction of multi-unit housing totaled 749 units in May 2010 brining the year-to-date total to 3,702. The majority of this construction is accounted for in the City of Vancouver, where 1,306 multi-unit homes started construction so far this year.

Robyn Adamache of CMHC noted that “Most housing market indicators suggest that the new home construction market is in balanced conditions this year.” This is in line with what we are seeing in resale housing numbers and demographic indicators like population growth and household information.
 

Download the full CMHC May 2010 Housing Starts Press Release>>