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Kelowna region new-home starts booming

The Kelowna census metropolitan area saw near-record levels of new home construction in April.
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The Kelowna census metropolitan area (CMA) saw near-record levels of new home construction in April, while Vernon and Kamloops both continued to experience robust growth in the apartment and condominium markets.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released its April statistics this week.

“Housing starts activity in the Kelowna CMA picked up significantly in April, driven in large part by the multi-unit segment,” said Taylor Pardy, CMHC’s senior analyst for Kelowna, Southern Interior and Northern BC.

“The recovery in housing starts activity, almost rivalling the record starts seen in April 2017, was the result of some large apartment rental and condo projects getting underway. Multi-unit housing demand, both rental and ownership, remains strong in the Kelowna CMA, while vacancy rates and homes listed for sale remain low.”

Stats show in Vernon, 145 apartment units and 44 condo units started in April.

Canada highlights include:

The trend in housing starts was 225,696 units in April 2018, compared to 226,942 units in March 2018, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.