Single-detached home construction fell despite the faster pace of growth in overall housing stock, Statistics Canada says
New properties in Ontario and British Columbia tend to be condominium apartments, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
From 2019 to 2020, condo apartments accounted for a significant chunk of new housing stock in Ontario (38.8% of new supply) and British Columbia (54.4%). The trends were similar in the census metropolitan areas of Toronto (59%) and Vancouver (75%).
This accompanied a downward trend in the share of new single-detached homes during the same period, despite the faster pace of growth in overall housing stock, Statistics Canada said.
Read more: Residential construction investment weakens
“The downtown housing stock in some of Canada's largest metropolitan areas grew at a faster pace from 2019 to 2020 compared with previous reference years,” Statistics Canada said.
The Vancouver market, in particular, saw its new supply grow at a faster pace (2%) than its total population (0.98%), “suggesting that housing supply kept pace with increasing demand over the two-year period,” Statistics Canada said.
Toronto housing stock increased by 1.6% during the pandemic year, accompanying a steady depletion in the market’s supply of vacant lots.
“Vacant land intended for residential use is an important input into housing supply,” Statistics Canada said. “From 2018 to 2020, new vacant land in the Toronto CMA did not keep pace with construction. As a result, the total number of vacant land properties in Toronto fell by 3,245. In contrast, there were 790 more vacant lots in Vancouver in 2020 than in 2018.”
