Vancouver developers cancel condo projects

May 30, 2019

About 20 per cent of new condo projects in Vancouver have been cancelled as sales of new condos fell while inventory of unsold new condos grew, according to reports from Altus Group and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.(CMHC).
Altus estimates that as many as one in five condo developments approved in Vancouver since 2016 had been “abandoned.”
Across Metro Vancouver, Urban Analytics reports there were 4,478 unsold new condo units in projects under construction at the end of March 2019—a 184 per cent increase from 2016. In the City of Vancouver there were 240 completed and unsold condo apartments still on the market as of April 2019, according to CMHC.
There are 10,7000 apartment units under construction in the city this year, but a number of these are purpose-built rental units.
Home BUILDER research shows most of the cancelled projects in Vancouver appear to be either foreign-backed developments or secondary, local developers new to the market.
Total Canadian sales of condo apartments in major urban markets reached 48,500 units in 2018, down 21 per cent from 2017. The Greater Toronto Area accounted for almost half of all Canadian condo sales.
Montreal saw 2018 sales of new condos in 2018, the highest annual level ever  recorded by Altus Group.