It was a record high year in West Kelowna in 2017 for construction activity with building permits adding up to more than $131 million.
In 2016, the figure was just over $116 million.
READ MORE: Record breaking building activity in West Kelowna
The 490 housing starts last year is a 48 per cent increase over 2016.
Renovations also increased to 209 projects last year compared to 188 the previous year.
A city news release states permit processing times were reduced from an average of two months in 2016 to three weeks in 2017.
That’s largely attributable to increased staffing in the building department.
“We have made numerous improvements to our department service levels despite another year of record breaking development activity in West Kelowna,” said Development Services General Manager Nancy Henderson in a news release.
The city expects the pace of construction activity to continue to be robust in 2018.
“We have several multi-family projects on the horizon. We have also seen a significant increase in commercial additions and alterations and are currently processing permits for two new substantial industrial developments,” said Henderson.