Housing starts in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) were up 26% in March to 1,207 from 958 a year ago, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) figures released Wednesday.
Driving that increase was a spike in multiple-family starts, which surged 36% in the Vancouver CMA in March compared with the previous year.
“The cities of Vancouver and Burnaby recorded significantly more multiple-family starts in the first three months of 2012 than in the same period last year,” said Robyn Adamache, CMHC’s senior market analyst, in a release.
“Other cities, such as Richmond, Surrey and Coquitlam, had fewer multiple-family starts.”
The City of Vancouver had 240 housing starts this month, up from 225 a year ago.
The Abbotsford CMA reported 23 housing starts in March, dramatically down from the 107 starts recorded in the same month last year.
This year to date, Vancouver CMA’s housing starts are up 23% for multiple-family projects and up 12% for detached projects.
