By Greg Fry/James Peters

2018 housing starts way up year-over-year in Kamloops

Mar 8, 2018 | 1:51 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says the Kamloops home construction sector had another strong month in February.

CMHC recorded 19 new housing starts last month, including 13 single family homes.

For the year to date, there have been 94 starts in Kamloops, compared to just 12 at the same time last year.

“Inventory of completed and unsold units sitting on the market was a little higher last year to start the year. So, builders didn’t feel as much pressure to take on new projects and bring on new units,” says Senior Market Analyst Taylor Pardy.

He says this year we’re seeing the opposite with inventories of completed and unsold homes quite low across the board, or lower than they were.

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“So, we’re definitely seeing some more pressure on builders to get some new stuff underway.”

And although Pardy acknowledges weather is usually a factor in housing starts this time of year, he says construction activity early in the year has mitigated that effect.

“We’ve seen a number of single-detached starts but also some new apartment-condominiums get underway. So, obviously builders are able to get things in the ground.”

Looking ahead, what does he see in terms of construction activity for the rest of 2018?

“It’s really going to be a mix. Last year, we did see a bit of a pullback on the multi side while single-detached home construction picked up. But in 2018-19 we are anticipating multis to come in a little stronger overall especially with new rental projects slated to come down over the next few years.”