![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/vancouver-housing-market-2.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo:\u00a0Mike Benna<\/a>\/Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nThe number of new homes beginning construction in the Vancouver region is declining and expected to fall significantly in the near future.<\/p>\n
It will be a sharp descent from levels seen only a year ago, when housing starts in the region hit a peak. <\/p>\n\n
According to a forecast published this week by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), housing starts in the Vancouver region had already started falling before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. <\/p>\n
Even though home construction activities have been permitted to proceed across BC, CMHC\u2019s Braden Batch and Eric Bond wrote that the pandemic will deepen the cyclical decline in construction activity that was already underway.<\/p>\n
\u201c[N]ew construction will be challenged by reduced migration both from other parts of Canada and abroad, loss of household income due to increased unemployment, and increased uncertainty regarding the long-run economic impacts of the pandemic affecting confidence in initiating new housing units,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n
Housing starts measure how many homes began construction during a given period and are generally viewed as a key factor in determining market health.<\/p>\n
Building applications, which give a sense of how many housing starts can be expected in the near future, were also down in Vancouver before the pandemic hit. Real estate consultancy Altus Group said this week that new development applications were down in the first five months of the year from their 2019 levels. <\/p>\n
\u201cOversupply in the new condo market is likely a factor here, even without concerns related to the impact of COVID\u201019 on the market,\u201d Altus Group said.<\/p>\n
While the CMHC forecast called for a home building recovery in Vancouver by the end of the year, don\u2019t expect construction to return to 2019 highs anytime soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing the immediate shock to the economy, we expect housing starts to begin recovery by the end of 2020 to a pace in-line with household formation and economic growth of the region,\u201d wrote CMHC\u2019s Batch and Bond.<\/p>\n
Even though home construction activities have been permitted to proceed across BC, the pandemic will deepen a decline in construction activity that was already underway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":205130,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2020-06-29T15:25:41Z","apple_news_api_id":"d60ddd57-e874-46f0-8e0c-a7f128483062","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2020-06-29T15:25:42Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A1g3dV-h0RvCODKfxKEgwYg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":["https:\/\/u48r14.digitalhub.com\/sections\/09b86915-7d2b-3acd-915b-b215002d01b7"],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11269],"tags":[],"coauthors":[8652],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n