Sales are down and prices have been flattish lately, but developers seem to be taking a ‘wait and see’ approach as BC housing starts saw a big drop in October.
CMHC says the pace of urban housing starts picked up in Ontario last month but there were declines in Quebec, the Prairies, Atlantic Canada as well as British Columbia
The annual pace of urban starts in B.C. fell to 25,517 in October compared with 46,294 in September.
Bank of Montreal senior economist Robert Kavcic said British Columbia was the big story.
“We’ll see if this level of activity, particularly in Vancouver where starts fell to the lowest since 2011, holds in the months ahead in response to softening demand conditions,” Kavcic wrote in a note to clients.
The drop in home starts in Vancouver comes as real estate sales in the region have also fallen sharply in recent months.
Read the full article over at BNN.