Kelowna’s skyline is changing quickly and so are its neighbourhoods.
A strong December topped off a huge year for housing starts in Kelowna with growth of both multi-unit and single family homes.
Kelowna saw 2,196 housing starts in 2016, a 72 per cent increase over the year before, according to stats provided by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
“I know members of our homebuilders association have work lined up and can’t take another project for a year and a half,” Justin O’Connor, president of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) for the Central Okanagan, said.
The growth is a welcome relief for a real estate and rental market that was facing pent-up demand.
“We had very little supply,” O’Connor said. “There was limited inventory which causes prices to go up.”
Development applications flooded city hall in 2016, leaving the city’s planning team overwhelmed.
With no signs of applications easing off, the city has approved the hiring of two more city planners for this year.
“We have significant development applications in with the city for continued multi-family and residential growth,” Kelowna city planner Terry Barton said.
Kelowna’s housing market is bucking the national trend that has seen starts slow down.
And that’s attracting developers from out of town.
“Across Western Canada some other markets have been quite slow. We are attracting developers we’ve never seen before. They’re coming here because they prefer to do business in Kelowna instead of other traditional markets in Western Canada.”
So now, not only is Kelowna seeing an influx of new residents, but also developers eager to build on an expanding opportunity.
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