Housing Starts in Greater Victoria

Housing starts are up in Greater Victoria as a whole, but they vary widely across the municipalities according to new figures from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CHMC). In Greater Victoria as a whole, they continue to trend up, rising 21.2 per cent year-to-date in 2019, despite a drop of more than 45 per cent in Saanich, Vancouver Island’s largest municipality.

The City of Victoria saw a huge increase year-to-date, jumping to 347 starts from 13, with most of the increase in the category of apartments (331). Nearby Esquimalt also recorded a steep increase with new housing starts jumping from four to 78. In Saanich, housing starts dropped by 45.2 per cent while Oak Bay recorded a drop of almost 47 per cent.

On the Saanich Peninsula, Central Saanich recorded an increase of 80 per cent while Sidney is down 35.7 per cent and North Saanich is down 82.9 per cent.

In the Western Communities, Langford recorded an increase of 43.4 per cent while Colwood recorded a drop of 64 per cent and Sooke recorded a drop of 31.1 per cent. Metchosin, View Royal and Highlands also recorded a drop.

Of the 1,196 housing starts in Greater Victoria, 887 fell into the category of apartments. Condominiums accounted for 55 per cent, followed by rentals with 28 per cent.

Source: https://www.bclocalnews.com/news/increased-rental-construction-boosts-housing-starts-across-greater-victoria/?fbclid=IwAR22hm2HbcliIVdZgEa3C41Wvi0uxidJWUSgjxpM3y0M7GUfdaK_jZbDelo