The number of B.C. housing starts continued to rise for a third consecutive month, increasing 20% in January from the number of housing starts in December, according to data by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. Monday.
Total starts rose to 24,800 units from 20,700 in December and 17,500 in November.
Within Metro Vancouver, 917 new housing units broke ground in January, a 51% increase compared with starts in January 2009. The largest increases were in Surrey with 295 new housing starts, closely followed by Vancouver with 234 starts. The bulk of the increase came in the single-detached home market.
Victoria, Kelowna and Abbotsford markets also experienced significant increases in January.