Vancouver sprouting cranes with 16 condo towers in progress and 67 others in the works

The Mark at 1372 Seymour Street;Vancouver;BC V6Z 2P7;corner of Pacific & Seymour is a proposed development by Onni;one of numerous condo projects either underway or in the works. Billed as the tallest tower in Yaletwon It will have 41 levels with 300 suites.

By Cheryl Chan, The Province

Vancouver is building on its reputation as a city of glass and steel.

Look around the skyline and you’ll see it dotted by cranes, and everywhere there seems to be another hole in the

ground making way for another apartment building.

Sixteen condo towers are under construction, according to a database by Skyscraperpage.com. and another 67

proposed high-rises are in the works.

Amid newly-tightened mortgage rules and concerns of an over-supply in the Toronto condo market that prompted

financial authorities including Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney to sound an alarm this week, we think we’ve

earned the right to ask: Is Vancouver oversaturated with condos?

Here’s some sobering figures.

Housing starts in Vancouver are up in the first five months of 2012 compared to the same period last year, driven

largely by multiple-unit dwelling construction – which is up by about 50 per cent from last year.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 5,503 condo units are under construction in

Vancouver in April, adding to the existing 230,000 units already in the city.

B.C. Real Estate Board economist Cameron Muir says the short answer to our question is no.

“Prices have been pretty flat since 2009,” Muir said. “There’s ample supply in the market place, but we are seeing

prices at a steady pace.”

The fact more condos than single-detached homes are being built in Greater Vancouver is nothing new, said Muir,

as condo starts have consistently made up about 75 per cent of all housing starts in the last several years. “It’s a

function of land supply.”

Consumer demand during the last several months is trending on a 10 to 15 year average, he added.

One indicator, says Muir, of the demand-and-supply balance in the marketplace is the sales-to-new-listings ratio.

In Vancouver last month, the ratio, at 15.3 per cent, inched closer to a buyer’s market — but sits within the

balanced range of between 15 to 20 per cent.

There hasn’t been a sustained buyer’s market since the recession hit, between late 2008 to early 2009.

As of April, 504 recently-completed units remain unsold. Overall, 3,017 units are listed on MLS.

Is Vancouver over-supplied with condos? The market will let us know.

Take a look for yourself at the condos currently under construction in Vancouver.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

1 Wall Centre False Creek I, II, III, IV

100 W. 1st Avenue

• 556 units in four towers

• Completion: Early to mid-2014

2 Maynards

1901 Wylie Street

• 253 units

• Completion: Fall 2012

3 James Living

289 W. 2nd Avenue

• 155 units

• Completion: August 2012

4 The Mark

1372 Seymour Street (at Pacific Boulevard)

• 300 units

• At 41 storeys, it is billed as the tallest tower in Yaletown

• Completion: Summer 2013

5 Salt

1308 Hornby Street

• 199 units

• Completion: June 2014

6 Cosmo

161 W. Georgia Street

• 253 units

• Status: Move-in ready

7 The Rolston

1300 Granville Street (site of the old Cecil Hotel)

• 187 units

• Completion: June 2013

8 Maddox

1304 Howe Street

• 214 units

• Completion: December 2013

9 Uptown

2788 Prince Edward

• 100 units

• Completion: Fall 2012

10 TELUS Garden

775 Richards Street

• 428 units in a 53-storey tower, which will be the second-tallest in the city after the Shangri-La

• Completion: 2015

11 Marine Gateway

8400 Cambie Street

• 415 units in two towers

• Completion: 2015

12 1153 West Georgia Formerly the Ritz Carlton

• 290 units (but should be confirmed independently, based on CBC report)

• Completion: XXX

13 Wall Centre Central Park Boundary Road and Vanness Avenue

1,114 units in three towers

Status: Rezoning application approved. Completion date: XX

TOTAL: 4,464

PROPOSED

14 Rize Mount Pleasant

Kingsway and Broadway

241 units

Status: Rezoning proposal approved by city council in April. If approved, completion date of XX.

15 Burrard Gateway

1290 Burrard Street (and 1281 Hornby Street)

About 589 units in two towers

Status: Proposed, awaiting rezoning approval. If approved, completion date of 2015 to 2016