Thanks to the increased starts we’ve been seeing the past few months, we are moving closer towards a healthy level of new housing supply needed to satisfy demand here in Vancouver. However, with a total of 6,881 housing units breaking ground in the first half of this year, we’re unlikely to hit our ten-year average level of 15,360 housing units.

According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), 1,250 housing starts were recorded in June 2010 across the Vancouver CMA.

“We have had a steady pace of new projects breaking ground, and together with a significant increase in the value of residential building permits recorded in May, we are well on track for total housing starts in 2010 to surpass the 10,000 mark” noted Robyn Adamache, Senior Market Analyst with CMHC. “But the current rate still suggests that we are likely to remain under the ten-year average level of 15,360 units.”

Although rental starts make up a small fraction of total starts, they are on their way up compared to past years. Rental housing starts have increased to 475 year to date, surpassing rental starts totals we’ve seen over the past five years.

Nationally, housing starts were down slightly in June, slipping to 189,300 units,
seasonally adjusted at annual rates (SAAR). In urban British Columbia, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts moved higher, edging up to 23,600 units, SAAR.
  

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