New residential housing construction in Greater Vancouver soared 140 per cent in January, compared to the same period a year ago, but developers still can’t keep up with demand for homes.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported Monday a total of 1,619 units broke ground last month — the highest level for the month of January in nine years — in the Lower Mainland, up from 677 starts in January 2003.

“We haven’t seen this many January housing starts since 1995,” said Cameron Muir, CMHC’s senior Vancouver market analyst.

“Demand for new housing continues to outstrip supply in [Greater] Vancouver, with many home builders sold out of available inventory.”

Of the 1,619 new starts last month, condominiums accounted for 1,235 of them, compared to 244 units in January 2003 — a whopping 406-per-cent increase.

However, condominium developers find it virtually impossible to meet consumer demand, as the number of new condos that are finished and unoccupied in the region has dropped 95 per cent over the past five years.

CMHC tracking shows there were 2,624 units complete and unoccupied at the start of 1999. Currently, there are only 141, including only five units in Vancouver‘s downtown core.

Said Muir: “Low inventories are not only a result of strong consumer demand, but also a product of limited developable land, difficulties in finding skilled tradespeople and bottlenecks in the [project] approval process.

“The time between the conception and completion of a housing development has lengthened, making it more difficult for home builders to respond to demand in a timely manner.”

Across the province, housing starts climbed 93.5 per cent to 2,365 units in January, up from 1,222 units the previous year. Multiple starts last month totalled 1,588 units, a 235-per-cent increase from 474 units in January 2003.

For all of 2004, CMHC forecasts 27,000 new starts for B.C., up three per cent from 26,174 actual starts last year.

“Low mortgage rates, solid job growth and rising consumer confidence will continue to fuel home sales,” Muir said. “Strong economic fundamentals are expected to continue through 2004, keeping demand for housing robust.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2004