Builders switch emphasis because of higher prices
Wendy McLellan
Province
Concrete is poured at the site of the Victoria-Cherry Bank condo development, evidence that B.C. homebuyers outside the Lower Mainland are embracing multi-family-housing lifestyles. — CNS
B.C. homebuyers outside the Lower Mainland are embracing the multi-family-housing lifestyle as home prices continue to climb, according to new statistics released yesterday.
In Kelowna, multi-unit housing starts nearly tripled in March compared to March 2007, and in Abbotsford, multiple starts increased by 216 per cent last month compared to the same period last year, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. figures.
Most B.C. urban centres saw single-family housing starts decline last month as it has every month so far this year while multiple starts increased in several centres.
“This surge in multiple-unit starts reflects the increased demand for semi-detached, row and apartment condominium units by price-conscious consumers,” said Carol Frketich, CHMC’s regional economist.
“In response to high home prices, builders are focusing on denser housing forms.”
Overall, housing starts in B.C. are up 14.7 per cent in the first three months of 2008 compared to the same period last year, says the CMHC report. Single-detached home starts are the same as last year’s figures, while multiple starts are up by 20.3 per cent.
Across the country, total housing starts slipped last month to 254,700 from 255,600 units in February. In urban centres, single-family starts declined 2.9 per cent while multiples edged up 1.1 per cent.
But last month’s building activity was still stronger than most analysts had expected, given recent indications that Canada‘s hot market is beginning to retrench to more realistic levels. Forecasts had ranged from 218,000 to 222,500 new units in March.
“With this brisk rate of activity in the first three months of the year, the housing sector will provide a boost to Canadian GDP,” said Millan Mulraine, economics strategist at TD Securities.
“On balance, we expect the Canadian housing sector to remain on a fairly strong footing through 2008, though it must almost surely fall from the current elevated level to bring it to a more sustainable path.”
Despite national concerns about a slowdown in housing construction, B.C. is still going strong, said Peter Simpson, chief executive officer of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association.
Last year, the Lower Mainland recorded the highest number of total housing starts since 1993 and this year’s first-quarter figures are better than the same period in 2007. Eighty per cent of starts are multi-family units.
“If we continue at this pace, we’re going to be close to that strength again,” Simpson said. “We’re hearing stories about the slowdown in the U.S. and in different parts of Canada, but we don’t see any evidence of that here.”
