More home starts, higher prices predicted
Prices in Metro Vancouver are projected to climb higher in 2010, according to CMHC.
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Updated: November 02, 2009 5:04 PM
Housing construction and home prices should both pick up steam in 2010 as the real estate recovery gains momentum.
That's the outlook from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
Senior market analyst Robyn Adamache said population growth, more jobs and low mortgage rates should all bolster demand for homes next year.
"Home prices in most Lower Mainland centres are still below their previous peak," she said.
"Prices will rise as buyers take advantage of lower prices and favourable mortgage interest rates."
House prices in Metro Vancouver, which averaged $593,000 in 2008 and an estimated $580,000 in 2009, are forecast to climb to an average of $605,000 in 2010.
But Adamache is not predicting a quick return to the number of new homes built in the years before the recession.
The CMHC projects Metro Vancouver will record just 9,000 housing starts this year – down 54 per cent from the 25,191 units built in 2008 – before increasing to 13,000 starts in 2010.
The Fraser Valley regional district, where home starts have plunged from 1,285 last year to a projected 350 this year, is forecast to build 500 new units next year.
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