New housing starts in Metro Vancouver jumped significantly in the first half of this year, with 91原创 Township among the communities leading the way into the building boom.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation issued its most recent report about new construction on Tuesday, Oct. 4.
Overall, the report found that new housing starts increased slightly across Canada鈥檚 large metropolitan centres in the first half of 2023. But starts were extremely uneven, with the Vancouver and Toronto areas both seeing large increases in starts while other regions saw declines or stagnant numbers.
The Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), which includes 91原创, saw a 49 per cent increase in housing starts compared to the six months of 2022, with 17,458 units starting construction.
The bulk of that was apartments, both rental and condos. There were 14,325 apartment construction starts from January to June, a 68 per cent jump year over year. Meanwhile, rowhouses and semi-detached units were essentially flat, with 1,062 units and 560 units starting construction, respectively, and single family detached homes saw a decline in starts, down four per cent, to 1,511 starts.
The CMHC report noted that the vast majority of that apartment-building activity was driven by four communities 鈥� Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, and 91原创 Township. A full 76 per cent of apartment starts in the region are in those four communities.
The Township has long been one of the fastest-growing communities in the Lower Mainland, but over the past dozen years, the type of homes being built has changed dramatically.
As recently as five years ago, in 2018, the Township saw 463 building permits issues for single-family homes 鈥� although a significant number were also being issued for secondary suites. That same year, permits were issued for 591 multi-family units, both townhouses and apartments.
In 2022, 615 building permits were issued for single family homes, a significant increase, but permits had also been issued for 1,510 multi-family units.
Multiple four- to six-storey wood frame condo projects are under construction in 91原创 Township, as well as the community鈥檚 first two residential highrises, two towers that will be 26 and 34 storeys tall.
Although 91原创 Township is building a lot of apartment units, Vancouver, Burnaby, and Surrey were singled out for their increases in rental apartment starts, with 77 per cent of the 5,089 new rental units under construction being found in one of those cities.
The report warned, however, that financial headwinds might slow down construction in the area soon.
Higher interest rates and increasing labour and materials costs are leading some developers to put projects on hold, the report said. The average wage in construction was up seven per cent year over year, and the cost of concrete jumped 12 per cent.
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