Image of the day: population growth by metro area

Patrick Condon says that Vancouver has built more housing per capita than any other North American city. But looking at population growth from 2001 to 2021 for Canadian metro areas, Vancouver doesn't even make the top 10. Data is from Statistics Canada.

Comparing housing permits in Edmonton to Metro Vancouver, we can see that Edmonton builds a lot more during booms.

Supply skeptics often say that it’s impossible for more supply to bring down prices and rents. Patrick Condon:

If building new supply produces affordability, then Vancouver should have become the most affordable. But that did not happen. Why?

Condon seems to be getting cause and effect backwards.

Where prices and rents are high, that’s a strong incentive for developers to build more, and you get more new construction. Where prices and rents are low, you get less new construction. That’s why there’s a lot more new construction in Vancouver than in Saskatoon.

Matthew Yglesias, The Rent Is Too Damn High:

It’s as if you noticed that fires always coincide with the appearance of fire trucks and concluded that the fire department was burning buildings down. The truth, obviously, is the reverse. Fire trucks show up because buildings are on fire. Similarly, real estate developers show up when land prices are rising.