1. EMBARGO – RELEASE APRIL 8, 2011 AT 8:15 AM
MARCH HOUSING STARTS IN VANCOUVER CMA
VANCOUVER, April 8, 2011 – Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reports that
March 2011 housing starts in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) increased
compared to the same month a year ago, totalling 958 homes. Most of these home starts were
located in the Surrey, Richmond and the City of Vancouver.
“Multiple family home starts made up the majority of housing starts in the CMA during the first
quarter,” noted Robyn Adamache, CMHC’s Senior Market Analyst.
An increase in multiple family home starts had the Abbotsford CMA record 107 housing starts in
March, up from the 44 housing starts recorded during the same month a year ago.
Nationally, the seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of total housing starts increased to 188,800
units in March, from 183,700 units in February. In British Columbia, March’s seasonally adjusted
rate of urban housing starts moved lower to 18,000 units from 23,500 units in the previous
month.
As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on 65 years of experience to help
Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable homes.
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 vital 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.
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Preliminary housing starts numbers are summarized in the attached tables.
For further information, please contact: Robyn Adamache, Senior Market Analyst
Tel (604) 737-4144; Cell (604) 787-9659; radamach@cmhc.ca
(Ce document existe également en français) …/2
1
Seasonally-adjusted annual rates (SAARs) are monthly housing starts figures adjusted to remove normal
seasonal variation and multiplied by 12 to reflect annual levels. This facilitates the comparison of the
current pace of activity to annual forecasts as well as to historical annual levels.

2. Vancouver CMA Housing Starts
MARCH YEAR-TO-DATE
Single-Detached* Multiples** TOTAL Single-Detached Multiples TOTAL
2011 2010 2011 2010 2011 2010 2011 2010 2011 2010 2011 2010
Bowen Island 1 0 0 2 1 2 Bowen Island 1 1 0 4 1 5
Burnaby 14 25 10 163 24 188 Burnaby 38 61 171 194 209 255
Coquitlam 1 4 7 18 8 22 Coquitlam 12 54 325 207 337 261
Delta 13 17 4 11 17 28 Delta 28 42 6 25 34 67
Langley City 0 0 0 0 0 0 Langley City 2 0 0 0 2 0
Langley District 13 14 28 32 41 46 Langley District 37 43 103 137 140 180
Maple Ridge 22 34 0 20 22 54 Maple Ridge 54 83 28 52 82 135
New West 2 5 0 2 2 7 New West 16 17 44 2 60 19
North Van. City 1 0 6 4 7 4 North Van. City 6 0 126 8 132 8
North Van. District 3 3 0 0 3 3 North Van. District 5 7 12 22 17 29
Pitt Meadows 0 0 0 0 0 0 Pitt Meadows 0 5 71 0 71 5
Port Coquitlam 0 0 0 0 0 0 Port Coquitlam 2 0 10 9 12 9
Port Moody 2 0 0 6 2 6 Port Moody 2 3 5 6 7 9
Richmond 21 18 253 30 274 48 Richmond 55 59 704 221 759 280
Surrey 87 174 228 49 315 223 Surrey 186 514 658 303 844 817
Vancouver City 51 79 174 68 225 147 Vancouver City 150 144 842 852 992 996
West Vancouver 11 5 0 0 11 5 West Vancouver 28 19 0 0 28 19
White Rock 0 0 6 29 6 29 White Rock 1 1 6 31 7 32
Other 0 5 0 62 0 67 Other 2 10 72 62 74 72
Van CMA TOTAL 242 383 716 496 958 879 Van CMA TOTAL 625 1,063 3,183 2,135 3,808 3,198
TOTAL Change -37% 44% 9% TOTAL Change -41% 49% 19%
Abbotsford 9 22 87 10 96 32 Abbotsford 23 49 120 27 143 76
Mission 11 12 0 0 11 12 Mission 24 31 0 0 24 31
Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 Other 0 0 0 0 0 0
Abbotsford CMA 20 34 87 10 107 44 Abbotsford CMA 47 80 120 27 167 107
TOTAL Change -41% ## ## TOTAL Change -41% ## 56%
Chilliwack CA 26 30 8 22 34 52 Chilliwack CA 41 96 17 69 58 165
TOTAL Change -13% -64% -35% TOTAL Change -57% -75% -65%
Source: CMHC Source: CMHC
Vancouver - Other incl. Anmore, Belcarra, Lions Bay, UEL, Unorgan., Indian Reserves.
Abbotsford - Other incl. Indian Reserves.
* Single Detached refers to single family homes.
**Multiples refer to semi-detached, townhouse and apartment units.
Effictive January 2011, data includes market housing on First Nations reserve lands in urban areas.
##: Per cent change > 100%
Lower Mainland Housing Starts*
Change in Units 2010- 2011
WEST NORTH
VANCOUVER VANCOUVER
47% ## TRI-CITIES
28%
MAPLE
VANCOUVER CITY BURNABY & NEW
WESTMINSTER
RIDGE
=
2% 39%
MISSION
RICHMOND
## SURREY
DELTA ABBOTSFORD
3% LANGLEY
49% 56%
22%
January - March 2011
##: Per cent change > 100% W HITE
ROCK