According to CMHC, year- to-date, (Jan to May 2026) Greater Victoria has posted 1,789 new homes, a 30% increase from the 1,379 last year (Jan to May 2025). That said, there were only 233 new homes in May 2026 compared with 376 in May 2025 and 864 last month (April 2026.)
The bellwether for housing supply in Greater Victoria is Langford, which is down 40% to 306 (Jan to May 2026) from 506 new homes (Jan to May 2025). For decades, Langford has been a model of consistency offering homes of all types – single family, townhomes, apt/condos. However, a combination of rising costs, softening sales, and a more obstructive municipal council/administration are leading to declining housing starts.
Colwood has maintained their housing starts posting 301 this year vs 290 last year. Victoria leads in starts at 841 this year, however the vast majority are condos of which 640 were in one month – April. These projects are usually in the hopper for years so it is difficult to predict future supply.
“May’s data showed mixed results. Year-to-date housing starts are slightly up from last year, and the monthly starts trend was basically flat, while units under construction and completions increased. Overall, these results suggest that construction activity is uneven and taken together with the decline of approved units not yet started and market intelligence point to weaker momentum for future supply,” said Aled Ab Iorwerth, Deputy Chief Economist at CMHC.
Many municipalities had single digit starts or zero. Those with zero housing starts are Sidney, North Saanich, View Royal, Highlands, Sooke, Esquimalt which is alarming.
VRBA’s Crystal Ball Housing Forecast held January 14, 2026 anticipates a slowdown in 2026, partly due to the highest supply of unsold units in 35 years. For those considering a new home, now is a good time to be talking to builders. Visit VRBA’s Expression of Interest.
Year to date, CMHC’s report shows 98 single family homes, 198 row/townhomes/duplexes, etc, and 1,493 apt/condos.
A continued bright spot is row/townhomes/duplex (missing middle) housing up 6% from last year due to Bill 44 – provincial rezoning municipalities to accommodate missing middle housing. Despite protests from some municipalities, it’s clear their zoning bylaws have been responsible for obstructing small density housing suitable for families.
Some municipalities are still using high fees, setbacks, etc to continue to obstruct missing middle housing. The BC govt recently introduced legislation “to prevent local governments from excluding zones where small-scale, multi-unit housing should be allowed or making further restrictions that make it more difficult to build anything other than single-family or duplex housing for communities with more than 5,000 people, and within urban-containment boundaries.”
Saanich Councilors Brice and Brownoff proposed a motion to remove housing targets even though more new homes were built during three years of targets vs the previous six years. VRBA wrote a letter to council opposing their motion, which was subsequently derailed.
Brice and Brownoff also voted to oppose reviewing an industry study on the CRD board, which would have outlined the impact of new DCCs on housing affordability. As members of the CRD board, they voted to add up to $9,044 DCCs to new homes despite a study showing the costs would further slow down new housing.
Of the 233 new homes in May: Victoria – 79, Colwood – 75, Langford – 26, Saanich – 31, Sidney – 11, Oak Bay – 7, Central Saanich – 1, Metchosin – 1, Sooke – 1. Those with zero housing starts are North Saanich, View Royal, Highlands, Esquimalt.
Year to date, of the 1,789 new homes: Victoria – 841, Langford – 306, Colwood – 301, Saanich – 244, Oak Bay – 26, Esquimalt – 15, Sooke – 14, Sidney – 19, Central Saanich – 12, Metchosin – 6, North Saanich – 2, View Royal – 1, Highlands – 0.
Most municipalities with low or zero housing starts have anti-housing councils. North Saanich declined to meet with BC’s housing ministry staff to discuss the municipality missing their housing targets and deficiencies in their reports.
Since then, the ministry has appointed a “housing adviser” to address the challenges in the municipality. The same is needed in Sidney and View Royal.
The Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs appears to be ignoring some municipalities’ intransigence when it comes to contributing to housing in the community. In addition, the BC govt’s claims to support housing affordability are not credible when they approve DCC bylaw increases of 258% as they did last year in Victoria. As well as the CRD’s recent DCC increase of up to $9,044 per new home.