But home construction doesn't tell the whole story
Metro Vancouver witnessed a surge in housing construction last year, setting a new record with over 33,000 homes started, according to a report released by rennie landscape.
The semi-annual report found that housing starts in the Vancouver region rose 28% in 2023 compared to the prior year, reaching over 33,000 units.
“Though we still need many more homes for the people that are coming to our region - as well as, don’t forget, the ones that are already here - it’s far from insignificant that we began construction on a record number of homes this past year,” said Ryan Berlin, head economist and vice president of intelligence at rennie.
However, Berlin noted that this record housing starts activity was not evenly distributed across Metro Vancouver.
More than one-third of municipalities recorded below-average starts in 2023, including Pitt Meadows, North Vancouver, Delta, New Westminster, White Rock, West Vancouver, and Coquitlam.
“There’s an opportunity to do more,” he said.
Aside from housing starts, the rennie landscape report touches on several other economic indicators. The national unemployment rate is reported as rising, a trend attributed to population growth outpacing job creation despite the overall increase in employment.
Additionally, while retail sales and GDP are increasing, these figures do not hold up when adjusted for population growth.
The report also anticipates interest rate cuts now that inflation has returned to within the Bank of Canada’s target range. It highlights the financial strain on borrowers spending a higher portion of their incomes on mortgage debt servicing, even as the overall new debt intake has decreased.
Read more: Could rising US inflation spell trouble for the Bank of Canada?
With BC’s population expected to grow by two million over the next two decades due to increased international migration, rennie forecasts continued pressure on the housing and rental markets. The purpose-built rental market remains particularly tight, with both vacancy and turnover rates at historically low levels, contributing to rising rental rates in BC.
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