National statistics show that the later stages of home building – permits, completions, new-home registrations – are down in many places.
While rents in many B.C. cities are soaring higher every month and house prices continue to rise, the number of homes being built is declining, with home builders saying that interest rates and prohibitive land and construction costs continue to hobble them.
In contrast, Burnaby and Coquitlam have seen increases or no decline. Both are suburbs that were primarily single-family bedroom communities until the past decade, when their local councils began encouraging density in certain areas and approving some of the region’s tallest towers. “Waiting is pretty attractive right now,” Tom Davidoff said. “So a couple of years down the road, you will see a dip in new supply coming on.”
That’s because the rents that even the most optimistic developers forecast won’t cover current costs. Mr. Stovell said construction costs have increased more than 50 per cent since mid-2020. New-home registrations this year in B.C. are 23 per cent lower year-over-year, according to statistics to the end of June collected by BC Housing. In terms of multiunit buildings, only 10,800 new homes were registered in the first half of the year, compared with 17,500 for the same period in 2022. The slowdown has become evident in cities such as Vancouver and Surrey, where multiunit projects account for a large proportion of new building.