B.C.’s housing market is strengthening with housing starts expected to edge higher in 2013, according to a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) report released February 22.
“Both single-detached as well as multiple-family construction levels are expected to increase in 2013, alongside a rising number of existing home sales,” said Carol Frketich, who is CMHC’s B.C. regional economist.
“However, total housing starts and existing home sales are forecast to remain below their 10-year averages this year.”
CMHC is also forecasting a market shift from being a so-called “buyers’ market” to a “balanced market” later this year.
A “buyers’ market” is generally considered to be when the sales-to-listings ratio is less than 13%, Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) president Eugen Klein told Business in Vancouver last year.
REBGV statistics for January showed that the ratio in Vancouver is currently 10.2%.
That compares with sales-to-listings ratios of:
- 11% in October, 2012;
- 13% in June, 2012; and
- 19% in March 2012.
