March 2012 Housing Starts in Vancouver and Abbotsford

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - April 11, 2012) - Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reports 1,207 housing starts in March 2012 in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). March home starts exceeded the 958 starts recorded in the same month last year. The majority of housing starts were multiple-family construction.

"There were 3,931 multiple-family starts so far in 2012 in the Vancouver CMA compared to 3,183 in the same period last year," noted Robyn Adamache, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst. "The cities of Vancouver and Burnaby recorded significantly more multiple-family starts in the first three months of 2012 than in the same period last year. Other cities, such as Richmond, Surrey and Coquitlam, had fewer multiple-family starts."

The Abbotsford CMA reported 23 housing starts in March, down from the 107 starts recorded in the same month last year. In the first quarter of 2012, there have been 103 housing starts compared with 167 in the same period last year.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of 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 are summarized in the attached tables.

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Vancouver CMA Housing Starts
MARCH
	Single Detached¹		Multiple-family²		TOTAL
	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012
Bowen Island	1	1	0	0	1	1
Burnaby	14	18	10	210	24	228
Coquitlam	1	2	7	24	8	26
Delta	13	12	4	27	17	39
Langley City	0	1	0	0	0	1
Langley District	13	14	28	71	41	85
Maple Ridge	22	21	0	0	22	21
New West	2	4	0	79	2	83
North Van. City	1	2	6	9	7	11
North Van. District	3	4	0	10	3	14
Pitt Meadows	0	0	0	0	0	0
Port Coquitlam	0	1	0	54	0	55
Port Moody	2	0	0	0	2	0
Richmond	21	24	253	12	274	36
Surrey	87	76	228	249	315	325
Vancouver City	51	43	174	197	225	240
West Vancouver	11	10	0	2	11	12
White Rock	0	2	6	27	6	29
Other†	0	1	0	0	0	1
Van CMA TOTAL	242	236	716	971	958	1,207
TOTAL Change		-2%		36%		26%
Abbotsford City	9	16	87	4	96	20
Mission	11	3	0	0	11	3
Other‡‡	0	0	0	0	0	0
Abbotsford-Mission CMA	20	19	87	4	107	23
TOTAL Change		-5%		-95%		-79%
Chilliwack CA	26	24	8	40	34	64
TOTAL Change		-8%		***		88%
Source: CMHC

(1) Single Detached refers to single family homes.

(2) Multiples refers to semi detached, townhouse, and apartment units.

† Includes Anmore, Belcarra, Lion's Bay, University Endowment Lands, Unorgan, and Indian Reserves.

‡‡ Includes Indian Reserves.

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

*** Per cent change >100%

## Undefined

YEAR-TO-DATE MARCH
	Single Detached¹		Multiple-family²		TOTAL
	2011	2012	2011	2012	2011	2012
Bowen Island	1	3	0	0	1	3
Burnaby	38	55	171	562	209	617
Coquitlam	12	29	325	266	337	295
Delta	28	14	6	41	34	55
Langley City	2	3	0	0	2	3
Langley District	37	38	103	136	140	174
Maple Ridge	54	48	28	77	82	125
New West	16	10	44	269	60	279
North Van. City	6	7	126	191	132	198
North Van. District	5	14	12	40	17	54
Pitt Meadows	0	1	71	0	71	1
Port Coquitlam	2	2	10	65	12	67
Port Moody	2	3	5	198	7	201
Richmond	55	72	704	92	759	164
Surrey	186	198	658	461	844	659
Vancouver City	150	164	842	1,331	992	1,495
West Vancouver	28	33	0	156	28	189
White Rock	1	5	6	46	7	51
Other†	2	1	72	0	74	1
Van CMA TOTAL	625	700	3,183	3,931	3,808	4,631
TOTAL Change		12%		23%		22%
Abbotsford City	23	37	120	54	143	91
Mission	24	10	0	2	24	12
Other‡‡	0	0	0	0	0	0
Abbotsford-Mission CMA	47	47	120	56	167	103
TOTAL Change		0%		-53%		-38%
Chilliwack CA	41	45	17	50	58	95
TOTAL Change		10%		***		64%
Source: CMHC