British Columbia Housing Starts in March

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - April 11, 2012) - Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reports 1,622 housing starts in provincial urban areas¹ during March, up from 1,436 housing starts in March 2011. Both multiple-family and single-detached housing starts increased compared to March 2011 levels.

"Residential construction in British Columbia is running about 14 per cent ahead of last year's levels due to pick-ups in single-detached home starts and multiple-family construction," said Carol Frketich, CMHC's BC Regional Economist. During the first three months of 2012, 1,307 single-detached and 4,546 multiple-family homes were started.

Home construction in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) is driving this trend. Housing starts in the Victoria CMA were down 10 per cent year-to-date and down two per cent in the Kelowna CMA.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of high quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable housing solutions. CMHC also provides reliable, impartial and up-to-date housing market reports, analysis and knowledge to support and assist consumers and the housing industry in making informed decisions.

For more information, and to download CMHC's housing reports, please visit CMHC's website at www.cmhc.ca/housingmarketinformation or call 1-800-668-2642.

Preliminary housing starts numbers for selected centres are summarized in the attached table:

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¹Urban areas have a population of 10,000 or more.

British Columbia Housing Starts for Selected Centres1
MARCH
	Single Detached²				Multiples3				Total
	2011	2012		Change	2011	2012	Change		2011		2012		Change
Vancouver CMA	242	236		-2%	716	971	36%		958		1,207		26%
Victoria CMA	36	55		53%	133	35	-74%		169		90		-47%
Abbotsford-Mission CMA	20	19		-5%	87	4	-95%		107		23		-79%
Kelowna CMA	23	26		13%	8	18	***		31		44		42%
Chilliwack CA	26	24		-8%	8	40	***		34		64		88%
Kamloops CA	9	17		89%	6	1	-83%		15		18		20%
Nanaimo CA	13	16		23%	11	28	***		24		44		83%
Prince George CA	2	8		***	0	0	##		2		8		***
Vernon CA	8	12		50%	2	2	0%		10		14		40%
Urban B.C.	430	475		10%	1,006	1,147	14%		1,436		1,622		13%
Source: CMHC

			YEAR-TO-DATE MARCH
	Single Detached²						Multiples3							Total
	2011		2012		Change		2011		2012	Change		2011		2012		Change
Vancouver CMA	625		700		12%		3,183		3,931	23%		3,808		4,631		22%
Victoria CMA	131		119		-9%		190		169	-11%		321		288		-10%
Abbotsford-Mission CMA	47		47		0%		120		56	-53%		167		103		-38%
Kelowna CMA	66		82		24%		56		38	-32%		122		120		-2%
Chilliwack CA	41		45		10%		17		50	***		58		95		64%
Kamloops CA	31		41		32%		152		5	-97%		183		46		-75%
Nanaimo CA	48		47		-2%		94		187	99%		142		234		65%
Prince George CA	5		11		***		36		4	-89%		41		15		-63%
Vernon CA	17		25		47%		3		14	***		20		39		95%
Urban B.C.	1,169		1,307		12%		3,962		4,546	15%		5,131		5,853		14%
Source: CMHC

1 Includes urban areas of 10,000+ population ²Single Detached refers to single family homes.

2 Single Detached refers to single family homes.

3 Multiples refers to semi detached, townhouse, and apartment units.

Effective January 2011, data includes market housing on First Nations reserve lands in urban areas.

*** Per cent change >100%

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