Steve Randall
Canadian Real Estate Wealth
The restricted supply of multifamily units in Vancouver’s lower mainland will continue to hamper affordability, the Urban Development Institute says.
In its latest State of the Market report, the UDI highlights that at the end of December 2016 only 8 new townhome units were completed and available for purchase across the entire lower mainland.
“The report confirms that doing nothing, blaming foreign buyers, or introducing new, punitive taxes have not made housing more plentiful or affordable for home-seekers,” says UDI President & CEO Anne McMullin.
She added that, despite plenty of land in the area, restrictive zoning ties up 85 per cent of it for single-family homes when multifamily units are desperately needed, especially around transit links.
The report reveals that the Metro Vancouver population grew by more than 30,000 in 2016 but rental units have a vacancy rate below 0.6 per cent; and there was a 92 per cent year-over-year decrease in wood framed condos in the fourth quarter of 2016, to the lowest level in 6 years.
“We all have to share in the solutions and consider the greater good and community health,” McMullin urged.
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