File photo.
Housing starts in September in Greater Victoria saw a significant drop compared to the same month last year, but 2018 is still a busier year overall for construction.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released housing starts data for September, which saw the monthly numbers fall year-over-year in Greater Victoria and Nanaimo, but climbed in Courtenay.
CMHC says there were 263 starts in Victoria last month compared to 600 in Sep. 2017.
But there have been 3,028 starts for the year compared to 2,696 from January to September of last year.
“A number of large apartment units were recently initiated, and units under construction are at record highs as there is strong demand for relatively affordable units in the city,” CMHC Vancouver Island Senior Analyst Braden Batch said in a release.
CMHC says there are currently 2,453 rental units under construction in Greater Victoria, with 1,651 of those being built in Langford, Sooke, Colwood and View Royal.
In Nanaimo, there were 54 housing starts last month, down from the 72 in Sep. 2017.
CMHC year-to-date figures show more than a 12.5 per cent decline of construction starting for homes in Nanaimo, with 620 compared to 709 last year.
Of the 838 dwellings currently under construction in Nanaimo, CMHC says 440 of those are intended for the rental market.
Activity in Courtenay is sharply up, with 94 starts in September compared to just 15 in the same month last year.
There have been 397 builds getting underway in Courtenay in 2018, up more than 40 per cent from last year with 189 of dwellings currently under construction being single detached homes.
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