It was a banner year for housing construction in Saint John, according to city staff.
Figures presented to council’s growth committee this week show 486 units completed in 2024.
Andrew Reid, the city’s housing manager, said it was the highest number of completed units on record.
“Apartments were the largest housing form in 2024 of those units completed, comprising 85 per cent,” Reid told committee members on Tuesday.
Single- and semi-detached homes account for 12 per cent of new units, and townhouses make up three per cent.
Around two-thirds of the new units brought online were in the Millidgeville and north end neighbourhoods.
The rental vacancy rate increased to four per cent, and average rent climbed by seven per cent to $1,133.
Reid that was largely due to the newly-constructed apartments in and around the Millidgeville area of the city.
“Because we had those large new units be completed, it’s going to take some time for the market to absorb those units,” he added.
As for housing starts, construction began on 586 new units last year, with about 84 per cent of those being apartments.
Reid said one thing that is different is where those new units are being constructed, with more of a shift toward the uptown, west and east areas of the city.
Around 125 of those units, or 22 per cent, are deemed to be affordable, but Reid noted that number could be higher.
“These are just projects we’re aware of that are essentially securing that minimum no more than 30 per cent of a household’s income on shelter,” he said.
There are also an additional 231 possible affordable units in the pipeline over the next two years that the city has committed grants toward.
Reid said the city appears to be on track to meet its overall housing supply target commitment of 1,124 permits issued by the end of 2026, but there remains economic uncertainty.
