Justin Leigh, BCom 
As reported by Business In Vancouver, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has released numbers that show a significant decline in the number of new construction projects in July as compared to June. This slowdown in housing starts is attributable to the introduction of the HST.
The number of B.C. housing starts fell 13.3% in July, according to data released Tuesday morning by the CMHC.
The number of starts fell to 1,817 in July, down from 2,096 in June. The most significant decline was in Metro Vancouver with a 10% decline to 1,124 units from 1,250 in June.
From a seasonally adjusted basis, B.C. housing starts fell 14.8% in July, slipping to an average annual rate of 20,100 from 23,500 in June. The average annual rate in Metro Vancouver fell to 12,900 units from 14,100.
CMHC senior market analyst Robyn Adamache said in an interview, “The decline is not huge, but it’s pretty much what we had been expecting in terms of some moderation in the market going forward. People are expecting mortgage rates to go up a bit and sales in the resale market have slowed a bit.”
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