Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: British Columbia Housing Starts in 2011

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Jan. 10, 2012) - Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reports British Columbia urban1 housing starts totalled 24,346 homes in 2011 compared to 23,600 homes in 2010. In addition, BC total housing starts, which include housing starts in rural areas of the province, will be available mid-month. In 2010, rural housing starts totalled 2,885 homes.

"Compared to 2010, the level of housing starts was relatively stable in 2011. Consumer demand, high land prices, and other factors resulted in an increase in the share of multi-family housing starts," noted Carol Frketich, CMHC's BC Regional Economist. "Apartments, townhomes and semi-detached homes represented 71 per cent of urban housing starts in 2011, an increase from 61 per cent in 2010."

In December 2011, there were 1,594 housing starts, compared to 2,180 units in December 2010. Single detached starts were up compared to a year ago, while multi-family housing starts were lower than December 2010 levels.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of high quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable housing solutions. CMHC also provides reliable, impartial and up-to-date housing market reports, analysis and knowledge to support and assist consumers and the housing industry in making informed decisions.

For more information, and to download CMHC's housing reports, please visit CMHC's website at www.cmhc.ca/housingmarketinformation or call 1-800-668-2642.

Preliminary housing starts numbers are summarized in the attached tables.

(Ce document existe egalement en francais)

(1) Urban areas are areas of the province with a population of 10,000 or more.

To view the tables accompanying this press release please click on the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/CMHC0110a.pdf