SIMON PHILP
VICTORIA – According to BC Check-Up: Invest, an annual report by the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) on investment trends across the province, there were 4,992 housing units that began construction across Greater Victoria in 2023.
“Greater Victoria reached a new record high for the number of housing starts in 2023,” said Simon Philp, FCPA, FCMA, Market Vice President at CIBC. “That momentum will need to continue when interest rates begin to drop later this year.”
Of the total, 4,541 were attached units such as condos, townhomes, and apartments, up 14.4 per cent from 2022. There were 451 detached units started, down by 44.8 per cent year-over-year. According to the latest inflation data, the cost of rental housing in Victoria increased by 7.5 per cent between March 2023 and March 2024, outpacing the rise in ownership costs (4.6 per cent).
“Higher density building is the quickest and most cost-effective way to increase the housing supply, and combat affordability issues in the area,” continued Philp. “The push for more housing also dominated Greater Victoria’s major project activity.”
The estimated value of all major projects in Greater Victoria, those with a cost of over $15 million, was $13.5 billion in Q3 2023, down from $14.0 billion one year earlier. Of the total, 44 projects worth $10.3 billion were under construction. More than $8.0 billion worth of projects underway were designated for residential or mixed use.
The report also highlighted CPABC’s recent member survey, which provides a pulse-check on challenges facing B.C. businesses. CPAs living on Vancouver Island identified housing affordability as the biggest obstacle to business success, followed by attracting and retaining skilled labour and labour compensation costs.
“It all comes back to improving housing affordability to support the local economy,” concluded Philp. “Having an adequate housing supply and taming the high cost of living will help remove some of the barriers to business success.”
Source: www.bccheckup.com
