Province
Year-to-date housing starts in the Vancouver area have fallen 68 per cent from a year ago as developers tread cautiously around multi-unit projects, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says.
Single-detached starts have been rising since the year began but multi-unit projects are still in retreat, CMHC said yesterday.
“Developers have been taking a wait-and-see approach towards the multi-unit market,” CMHC senior market analyst Robyn Adamache said.
“Homebuilding will remain modest until some of the inventory of new and existing homes is sold off.”
Last month saw foundations being poured for 516 new homes in the Vancouver area, a 73-per-cent drop from July 2008, CMHC said.
Starts across B.C.’s urban centres fell to 10,800 units in July from 12,000 in June, on a seasonally adjusted annual rate, CMHC said.
Nationally, housing dropped unexpectedly in July, falling to an annualized rate of 132,100 in July from 137,800 in June, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp said yesterday.
“This was a fairly disappointing report, and it suggests that the buoyancy that has been seen in the past two months in this segment of the housing market hasn’t gained much traction, clouding an otherwise positive tone in Canadian housing market activity,”said TD Securities economic strategist Millan Mulraine.
“Even so, our bias remains for increased housing market activity in the near terms as the combination of low mortgage rates, relatively attractive home prices and the various tax incentives continue to spur Canadian housing market activity.”
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