This article was written by James Peters of CFJC News and appeared on their website on January 13th, 2016.
Kamloops — The final numbers are in for 2015, and the Kamloops new home construction market performed almost exactly as well as it did in 2014.
According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, a total of 523 new units were started last year, just five more than the year previous.
CMHC Market Analyst Taylor Pardy says don’t expect big changes in that number any time soon.
“The outlook for new construction in Kamloops is expected to be positive for the 2015-2017 period in general, with total housing starts remaining steady,” said Pardy adding, “new housing construction will be supported by a combination of low mortgage rates, population growth, and a balanced re-sale market”
Pardy also indicated that stability is very positive, especially considering the uncertainty much of the rest of Canada is seeing right now.
This article appeared on Kamloops This Week‘s website on January 4th, 2016 and was written by Cam Fortems.
Valleyview and Barnhartvale led city neighbourhoods in a 2015 assessment marked by continued moderate growth for Kamloops and the region.
Homeowners will tear open their assessment letters arriving in the mail this week — or check online — to find values in the range of minus five per cent to plus 10 per cent. Most neighbourhoods saw property values increase in the range of two or three per cent.
“For the most part, values are fairly constant,” said area assessor Graham Held. “Graphically. you can see the vast majority are in the zero to five per cent range [of increase].”
The City of Kamloops uses the calculations as part its annual tax assessment.
The city’s revenue manager, Parissa Bhullar, said a precise average is not yet available. That average will determine whether property owners will get a break or pay higher property taxes in 2016.
On a neighbourhood basis, Barnhartvale homeowners saw the biggest average increase — at $24,000, or about 6.5 per cent. That compares to lower increases in Juniper Ridge, Westmount and Batchelor Heights, where values are up a half per cent or less.
Values are calculated as of July 1, 2015.
The city also saw about $382 million in new construction for the period between July 2014 and July 2015. Held said the higher volume of sales recorded this year helps with valuations. “Sales values were strong, which is good for us because everything is based on sales,” he said.
Held said property owners who believe there is an error or that their values are misrepresented should call B.C. Assessment Authority for a potential correction or to book a time for an appeal with the property assessment review panel.
The deadline to file an appeal is Feb. 1.
Based on moderate increases, Held said call volumes to the office, as well as appeals, are expected to be down.
Across the region, Chase and Sun Peaks saw the highest average increases — as much as 15 per cent — with Logan Lake and the North Thompson among the lowest.
An Active Real Estate Market
While real-estate sales cooled in December, the year 2015 marked an active real estate market in Kamloops.
Kamloops & District Real Estate Association recorded a 14 per cent increase in unit sales for the year, to reach almost 2,600 units. For December, typically one of the slowest months of the year, the market saw a nine per cent decrease in units sold.
Prices remain moderate, with the median price for a single-family home in Kamloops reaching $375,000. That monthly number can fluctuate widely due to the small monthly sample size. In November, the median price was $393,000.
For the year, the most active neighbourhood for sales was Brocklehurst, followed by Aberdeen and Sahali.
KAMLOOPS – With more houses being built and home-buyers spending more the Kamloops housing market is off to a very good start in 2015.
According to Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation single-unit housing starts in Kamloops ‘surged’ in the first three months of 2015. The report from the corporation shows every category of housing start grew during the first quarter, with the exception of rental apartments. The first quarter of 2015 saw just one rental unit built, compared to 88 in 2014.
The corporation notes there is a provincial trend towards multi-family dwellings and the trend is seen in Kamloops as well, where the number of starts on semi-detached homes tripled. Single-family homes almost doubled as well though, growing to 33 in the first quarter of 2015 from 19 during the same period in 2014.
The number of completions during the first quarter were up 76 per cent as well, with 92 more homes finished in quarter one of 2015 than in 2014.
The price of newly built homes during this time period averaged about $490,000, a more than $40,000 increase from the first quarter housing prices in 2014. Of the 69 single family homes sold in the first quarter of 2015, 68 per cent came in under $500,000. There have also been more people who have purchased houses in the $500,000 and up range so far this year, with 22 homes falling within that price range in the first quarter of 2015, compared to just 13 during the same time period last year.
This article appeared in the KamloopsBCNow.com on May 8th, 2015 and was written by Wendy McLeod.
April turned out to be a good month for housing starts in Kamloops.
Figures last month came in above year-earlier figures, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
A reported 59 units were started in April compared to just 38 units during the same month one year ago.
When broken down, 47 of the new housing starts were single-detached residences while 12 were multiples housing. That compares to 36 single-detached homes in 2014 and two multiples.
So far this year total housing starts sit at 111 which are lower when compared to the same time period of 2014 with 153 starts.
Valleyview and Barnhartvale led city neighbourhoods in a 2015 assessment marked by continued moderate growth for Kamloops and the region.