Housing starts increase

Single-family housing starts in October continued to be a relative bright spot for British Columbia's residential construction industry.

Housing start numbers released by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation show construction of single detached homes rose 38 per cent last month in the Vancouver census metropolitan area compared to October 2008 -- and an average 26 per cent in urban centres across the province.

Victoria and Prince George saw the biggest jumps on a percentage basis, both recording single family housing start increases in excess of 80 per cent for the month.

The single family starts echo improvements that CMHC noted in September 2009.

Multiple family unit starts were down 68.3 per cent in the Vancouver area, and 57.7 per cent in urban B.C. compared to October 2008.

For starts in all housing types combined, October finished with the second-highest month tally in the year to date, with 892 starts, including 383 in Surrey and 139 in Coquitlam.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate for home starts in urban B.C. jumped to 16,100 units compared to 14,000 in September.

At the national level, the rate for annual housing starts was 157,300 units in October, up from 149,300 units in September.

Year to year, the percentage declines for all housing types remain substantial -- down 73 per cent in the City of Vancouver, 72 per cent in West Vancouver, 77 per cent in Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam-Port Moody, 58 per cent in Burnaby-New Westminster and 76 per cent in Abbotsford.

However, CMHC senior market analyst Robyn Adamache noted in an interview that 2008 began as a peak construction year.

Vancouver housing prices peaked in February 2008 before dropping 17 per cent and in most municipalities in the region are still below that level.

"We are absolutely comparing ourselves to a boom year," Adamache said.

In a statement accompanying release of the CMHC's October numbers, Adamache said "the momentum of increase over the past three months is heartening."

"Single-detached home construction continues to show strength, especially in Surrey. We are beginning to see a return of some larger scale multiple-unit residential projects, which were virtually absent during the earlier part of this year."

CMHC reported that new home construction in Canada rose 5.4 per cent in October -- 157,300 units on a seasonally adjusted annual basis, up from 149,300 in the previous month.

Economists had expected housing starts to increase by between 155,000 and 158,800 units during the month.

"The improvement in housing starts in October is attributable to improvement in the multiple starts segment," Bob Dugan, CMHC's chief economist, said.

Millan Mulraine, economics strategist at TD Securities, said the October report "adds to the growing list of indicators that have been pointing to a recovery in the Canadian housing market, though the rebound in residential construction has remained fairly modest." He added that with home purchasing continuing to rise, "given the relatively cheap borrowing rate and favourable buying conditions, we expect the recovery in residential construction to remain on track in the coming months."

("Housing starts for single-family units rise by 38 per cent" prepared by Scott Simpson/Vancouver Sun)