Though it is likely just a blip, Squamish’s housing starts are down this summer over last.
So far this year there have been 37 housing starts – the pouring of foundation for homes – compared with 160 this time last year, according to figures from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
In the case of a multi-unit building, each unit is considered one start.
“Starts in Squamish have weakened in comparison to Vancouver or the rest of the province,” said Keith Stewart, senior market analyst for CMHC.
Vancouver’s housing starts sit at 14,671 this year, compared to 16,953 last year.
In B.C., the number of housing starts has stayed relatively stable – at about 23,000 so far this year – compared to this time last year, when considering communities over a population of 10,000.
Different types of units take varying lengths of time to complete, Stewart noted. There are 176 units currently under construction in Squamish, which is lower than last year at this time, when 352 units were under construction.
Completions, however, are up over 2016. So far 198 units have been completed as opposed to 86 this time last year.
Dave Ransier, of Target Homes, told The Chief the company’s Breeze development of 82 units on Government Road would have been counted in the housing starts if it weren’t for bottlenecks at the District of Squamish getting approvals and permits. Target expects to receive the building permits shortly and will immediately start construction, he said.
Ransier added that he is certain there will be a lot more building coming up in the district.
Acting Mayor Doug Race said that he also sees the current lower figures as merely a lull.
“I know there is a lot of stuff in the pipeline,” he said, referencing the Vantage development planned for downtown, as well as Waterfront Landing and the Sirocco waterfront community, which are both expected along the Mamquam Blind Channel, and the Scott Crescent development that has recently been revived. “The housing starts and the housing market are generally still quite strong,” Race said.
And current figures are definitely not historically low, Stewart noted.
In the ’90s and early 2000s it wasn’t uncommon for the number of starts to be well below 100 units, sometimes dipping down to single digits, such as from the final quarter of 1998 to the middle of 2000 when starts were below four each quarter.
The end of 2015 right through most of 2016 saw record highs for starts in several places around B.C., Stewart said.
“You get that surge in prices and that is what developers are chasing,” he said.
The ripple effect of the lack of housing affordability in Vancouver is impacting communities further and further from the Lower Mainland, according to Stewart.
Current hot spots in the province in terms of housing starts include Kelowna, Chilliwack, Abbotsford and Nanaimo, Stewart said.
“It is that wave of activity that reverberates out [from Vancouver],” he said.
Though it may not be the current hot spot for housing starts, prices continue to rise in Squamish.
The benchmark price in July for a Squamish residence was $738,700, up 19 per cent over July of 2016 and up 82 per cent over three years ago, according to figures from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
