Sun
CHILLIWACK – The Chilliwack market was the hottest of the hot last year, when it came to housing starts in the Fraser Valley.
While the number jumped for the region as a whole by 31 per cent, the rate for Chilliwack was the highest of all the communities at 83.3 per cent, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. figures.
By comparison, Langley showed the next greatest rate of growth at 66.7 per cent.
Mission‘s starts increased by 46.7 per cent.
Surrey and White Rock growth rates were 28.3 and 22 per cent respectively.
Abbotsford’s growth rate was only 2.6 per cent.
“Strong consumer confidence, improving migration and full-time job gains continue to drive growth in the housing market,” Robyn Adamache, a CMHC market analyst, said.
“Affordability also makes this market attractive to many home buyers.”
Single detached home starts shot up to 461 in 2004 in Chilliwack from 263 starts in 2003, a 75.3-per-cent increase, while the number of multiple-residence unit starts almost doubled in 2004 to 527 from 276 starts, an increase of 90.9 per cent.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005