On the rise
One quarter down and three to go in 2017 and according to real estate marketing firm MLA Canada, at least 35 new highrise developments will launch across Metro Vancouver this year with more than 10,000 units. Approximately 4,500 of the units will come to market in the second quarter and close to half of them will be in Burnaby and Burquitlam.
The activity, especially in Burnaby, puts Vancouver to shame, says Ryan Lalonde, co-president of MLA Canada. With properties around Metrotown snapped up for redevelopment, activity in the city is outstripping that in some of Vancouver’s key areas.
“One large tower in Metrotown will be more than the supply that’s come online in the last quarter on Cambie Street,” Lalonde said, noting that the last four projects along Cambie Street totalled fewer than 300 dwellings.
Nevertheless, a report last week from the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association (GVHBA) indicates that housing growth in Vancouver (and Richmond) has exceeded targets while Burnaby and other municipalities struggle to meet goals.
Vancouver added 3,944 new units annually between 2012 and 2014, 1,131 units above its target of 2,813. Burnaby added 1,243 units annually over the same period, 1,017 units short of its goal of 2,260. Surrey, which pledged to deliver 4,975 units a year, was able to muster only 2,562, a deficit of 2,413 units.
Project marketer Bob Rennie has frequently told the Urban Development Institute that Vancouver can’t create housing for the entire region, that other municipalities must step up. GVHBA CEO Bob de Wit echoes this, saying the numbers reflect a mismatch between the location of starts and where demand is happening.
The surge in starts Lalonde mentions underscores the heroic efforts builders are making to keep up, but the GVHBA report underscores how much more municipalities could be doing to add ground-oriented housing such as duplexes and townhomes. Burnaby, Langley Township and New Westminster top the region when it comes to their potential, GVHBA reports – at least so far as infill housing goes.
“By and large, Burnaby does well,” de Wit said. “They need to do more of it. They’re behind on their growth targets.”
“When it comes to infill housing, they are excellent with the applications they look at – they process them quickly and efficiently … [and] the costs are relatively lower,” de Wit said of Burnaby. “But they aren’t producing a lot of volume.”
De Wit said that if 5% of the single-family lots in Metro Vancouver were pre-zoned for attached housing, it would clear the way for an additional 18,000 housing units – enough to cover the current annual shortfall of 4,445 units the region faces.
No joke
Meanwhile, purpose-built rental starts are surging across Metro Vancouver, if numbers David and Mark Goodman of HQ Real Estate Services Inc. have collated are any indication.
Released just in time for April 1, with the disclaimer, “Not an April Fools’ joke,” the data pegs the number of purpose-built rental units on the books or on the go in the region at 11,784.
Vancouver is home to the majority, with 2,326 units under construction in 20 buildings, and another 4,337 either approved or proposed. Burnaby and New Westminster follow, with 1,280 and 1,216 units, respectively. New Westminster is second only to Vancouver in units under construction, at 1,066.
Restraint shown
The latest edition of the B.C. Major Projects Inventory indicates that projects under construction held steady for a third straight quarter in the closing months of 2016.
There are now 341 major projects under construction in B.C. worth a total of $75.1 billion, down from 352 projects worth $75.4 million at the end of 2015.
The steady volume and lower value reflect a measure of restraint in an otherwise buoyant time. Proposed projects have been increasing, and on-hold projects represent a lower proportion of projects on the books. •
