Roughly 10% fewer new homes were built in Vancouver for the first seven months of the year compared with housing starts for the same period in 2006, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
About 10,870 new homes were built since January, down from 12,124 units for the first seven months of 2006. A 31% drop in single-detached home construction was cited as the main reason for the drop. The decrease was centred in Surrey, where single-detached home construction dropped 40% to just over 850 units compared with 1,409 units in the first seven months of 2006.
New housing starts in July fell 30% compared with the same month in 2006: 1,524 versus 2,163.
A 32% drop in multiple-unit starts and a 22% drop in single-detached housing starts contributed to the monthly decline.