New-home building continues at rapid pace

Homebuilding in Greater Victoria remained well ahead of last year’s pace in October, according to new building data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Last month, there were 208 new homes started, more than double the number of homes started in October 2014 when there were 86.

Of the 208, 75 were single-family homes and 133 were multiples.

Year-to-date, the region is also kilometres ahead of last year as there have been 1,726 new homes started compared with 1,058 through the first 10 months of 2014.

“Residential construction in Victoria has been strong through the first 10 months of 2015, with housing starts up 63 per cent over the level seen in the same period last year,” said Eric Bond, CMHC senior market analyst.

“Housing starts of new multiplefamily homes, particularly condominium and rental apartments, have been responsible for most of the increase. Starts for this category are being supported by rising migration to the region as well as low mortgage interest rates.”

Victoria has been the busiest area in the capital region through the first 10 months of the year with 608 new homes started so far this year, followed by Langford with 461 and Saanich with 149.

According to CMHC, housing starts were trending at 1,891 units in October, compared with 2,010 in September.

The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates of housing starts. The trend is used to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates in order to obtain a more complete picture of the state of the housing market.