Housing starts holding strong in the Okanagan

OKANAGAN – Housing starts were strong in Kelowna and Vernon last month, while Penticton held its own according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Although down from 2017, median relations officer Len Catling said in a press release that a surge of construction activity in Kelowna in May means the numbers are catching up to last year.

"A very busy month of construction activity in Kelowna pushed year-to-date totals closer to 2017’s record pace of housing starts,” Catling said.

May saw 319 housing starts of all kinds, down from 466 in May of 2017. There have been 986 housing starts this year to date, compared to 1,644 over the same time period last year.

Catling said the corporation recorded 3,724 units under construction in Kelowna in May this year, of which 743 where single-family homes.

In Vernon, 397 units of all kinds were under construction in May, with 152 single family houses included in that total.

Vernon is well ahead of 2017, recoding 177 total housing starts until the end of May, 2018, compared to 114 by the same time last year.

"Both Vernon and Prince George are seeing robust new housing construction in 2018 and both remain ahead of 2017 in year-to-date numbers,” Catling said.

Penticton recorded 80 housing starts of all kinds in the first quarter in 2018 compared to 75 in the same quarter last year. There were 592 units under construction in the first quarter 2018.

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