CMHC: April Housing Starts in Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area (CMA)

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - May 9, 2011) - Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reports, April 2011 housing starts in the Vancouver CMA increased compared to the same month a year ago, totalling 1,329 homes. Nearly three quarters of all housing starts were multiple-family units.

"Multiple-family housing starts continue to grow in popularity throughout the CMA," noted Robyn Adamache, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst. "More than two thirds of all multiple-family starts in April occurred in the North Vancouver District and the City of Burnaby, reflecting the strong housing demand in these areas."

The Abbotsford CMA reported 21 housing starts in April, totalling 188 homes for the first four months of the year. More than three quarters of all housing starts so far this year were multiple-family units.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted annual rate ¹ of total housing starts decreased to 179,000 units in April, from 184,700 units in March. In British Columbia, April's seasonally adjusted rate of urban housing starts moved higher to 22,600 units from 18,300 units the previous month.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable homes. 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 vital 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 are summarized in the map and tables accompanying this press release. To view them please click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/CMHC_Images.pdf

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¹ Seasonally-adjusted annual rates (SAARs) are monthly figures adjusted to remove normal seasonal variation and multiplied by 12 to reflect annual levels. This adjustment facilitates the comparison of the current pace of activity to annual forecasts as well as to historic annual levels.