A report published last month states that more than 2,000 new condos in Metro Vancouver are sitting unsold and empty.
The report found that the number is predicted to rise to nearly 3,500 condos by the end of the year.
“Condo listings are probably the highest we’ve seen them in years,” Realtor Adil Dinani said.
“Sixteen thousand listings overall in the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board. It’s the first time in 10 years.”
In addition, pre-sales are so low that it is forcing some developers to rethink current projects.
“We heard of one last week in Burnaby where the developer decided not to proceed with the project and as a result, returned all the deposits,” Dinani said.
Bryan Yu, a chief economist with credit union Central 1, told Global News that despite the availability, buyers still seem to be hesitant to purchase homes.
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“I think it’s just a reflection of a couple of factors,” he said. “Low affordability and a lot of the uncertainty around the economy and those trade shocks right now.”
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Prime Minister Mark Carney promised during his election campaign to double housing starts, which would eventually drive prices down.
“Once we increase, as a country, the rate of home building, then that is going to make home prices much lower than they otherwise would be,” Carney said during a media availability in Rome on Sunday.
Last week, former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson was sworn in as housing minister in Carney’s new cabinet.
When asked if he thought home prices needed to go down, he told reporters: “No, I think that we need to deliver more supply, make sure the market is stable.”
Robertson said his work as housing minister will focus on building up the supply of affordable housing in Canada.
“We need to be delivering more affordable housing. The government of Canada has not been building affordable housing since the ’90s and we’ve created a huge shortage across Canada,” he said.
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