They were building homes in the Kelowna area last year like never before.
“It was a very strong year historically. It’s actually the strongest year we have on record,” Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation senior market analyst Taylor Pardy said.
CMHC reports more residences were started in the central Okanagan in 2017 than any year since it began recording housing starts in 1977.
“What’s really been driving population growth rates is increased migration into the area. In particular, we’ve seen more people moving from the Prairie provinces, particularly after commodity prices pulled back,” Pardy said.
There’s also a large number of people moving to Kelowna from the Lower Mainland, he added.
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Developers are taking advantage of a low financing environment, Pardy said.
“And because average rents have been increasing, the viability of these projects looks better.”
The Canadian Homebuilders’ Association said it’s been struggling to keep up with the demand.
“There’s definitely been a shortage of trades. I know that everybody’s been talking about that, which is a great problem to have, but it’s definitely an issue,” Marika Luczi, Canadian Homebuilders’ Association spokesperson said.
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There were 3,577 housing starts in the Kelowna area last year comprising 923 single-detached homes and 2,654 condominiums and apartments.
In 2016, which was also a record high year for housing construction, the total starts were 2,196.
The average home price in 2016 jumped by 14 per cent, but increased about 9 per cent last year, Pardy said.
“So we did see a little bit of slower growth and part of the reasoning for that is that we’ve actually seen a bit more of a supply response,” Pardy said.
“Starting in mid-2017, we started to see the number of active listings or homes for sale on the market in any given month actually start to take up.”
Last year in the Penticton area there were 559 housing starts. That’s an increase of 124 units from 2016.
In Vernon and the surrounding area new home construction in 2017 added up to 398 units compared to 325 in 2016.
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