Record year for construction value in regional district

PENTICTON – Building construction reached record heights in the Okanagan-Similkameen Regional District last year.

Development services manager Donna Butler says 2016 was a record year for construction value, with a total of $56,629,545 worth of permits issued for the district’s electoral areas. That compares with a total of $53,030,305 for 2015.

There were fewer building permits issued in 2016, however, with 558 issued last year versus 584 issued in 2015.

Permit values were up in four of the region’s rural areas, including Areas A, (rural Osoyoos) C, (rural Oliver) Area E, (Naramata) and D, (Okanagan Falls-Kaleden).

The most significant increase in permit values was seen in rural Oliver and Okanagan Falls-Kaleden, where permit values rose by more than $6 million in each area over 2015.

Rural Oliver’s permit values rose from $6,233,726 in 2015 to $12,381,215, while Okanagan Falls-Kaleden increased from $15,280,456 to $21,573,078 in 2016.

Naramata and rural Osoyoos saw increases of less than $1 million over 2015 in each area.

Area H, (rural Princeton) saw a decrease in permit value, down $6,636,877 over 2015.

Building permits are not required in Electoral Areas B (Cawston) and G (rural Keremeos).

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