Housing starts in Vancouver’s census metropolitan area (CMA) are forecast to flatten in 2013 after a projected increase in 2012, according to a new Canada Mortgage Housing Corp. (CMHC) report.
“Home builders are expected to maintain a steady level of residential construction, particularly multiple-family projects, in response to stable economic conditions and favourable construction costs,” said Robyn Adamache, CMHC’s senior market analyst.
The CMHC Fall 2012 Housing Market Outlook Vancouver/Abbotsford report forecasts 19,000 home starts in the Vancouver CMA for 2012 and 19,100 homes in 2013.
The CMHC forecasts that homebuyer preference for multiple-family homes such as apartments and town homes rather than single-detached homes will bolster multiple-family starts over the forecast period.
The report forecasts that by the end of 2012, Vancouver’s resale market will favour buyers, with sales forecast to decline to 28,500. But it predicts that the market will return to “balanced territory” in 2013 as resale activity picks up to 30,000 sales.
The CMHC said the slowdown will dampen growth in the average sale price on the Multiple Listing Service, which it forecasts will moderate to $733,500 and then $730,000 in 2013 in the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board area.
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