Kamloops Real Estate Blog

Kamloops Construction Continues, Single-Family and Commercial Building Permits Are Up In 2010

February 15, 2010 Kirsten Mason Kamloops Real Estate News

This article appeared in the Kamloops This Week on Friday, February 12, 2010 and was written by Jeremy Deutsch.

The building train in the River City kept a-rollin’ all month long. Construction in the city for the beginning of 2010 is keeping pace with the strong finish that marked the end of the previous calendar year.

The number of single-family building permits issued by the city in January hit 13, compared to just two in January 2009. That helped spur the overall construction value for the month to top $13 million, compared to just $3 million the previous January. The city also handed out $8 million in commercial-building permits for the month.

The positive numbers are a surprise, said David Trawin, the city’s director of engineering and development. “It’s gearing up to be a good spring.” he said noting another 13 projects worth more than $1 million are already being reviewed at city hall for February. Trawin said the flurry of activity is a result of the warm winter, which kicked off the construction season early. He expects permits to drop off as spring turns into summer.

Last year, the city recorded $160 million in construction activity, surpassing expectations. This year, it’s forecast to issue $120 to $130 million in permits.

The strong month is mirroring the number of housing starts in Kamloops.

According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 21 new single-family homes started construction in January, up from six the previous year.

Link

Kamloops and District Real Estate Associations Statistics For January 2010

February 5, 2010 Kirsten Mason Kamloops Real Estate Statistics

I have included the January 2010 statistics from the Kamloops and District Real Estate Association below. Click on the image below to enlarge.

Kamloops Real Estate Comparative Analysis by Property Type January 2010

Kamloops Real Estate MLS Activity January 2010

Kamloops Real Estate Sales by Subarea January 2010

Price Gains To Crimp B.C. Real Estate Growth In 2010, 2011

February 4, 2010 Admin B.C. Real Estate News

From the Vancouver Sun.

The mortgage-rate fuelled bounce back of British Columbia real estate in 2009 has probably used up most of the market’s growth for 2010 and 2011, according to a new estimate from the B.C. Real Estate Association.

Association chief economist Cameron Muir is forecasting province-wide sales in 2010 to increase only three per cent above the hot 2009 results to 90,100 sales in 2010, then slip back three per cent to 87,500 units in 2011.

The provincial average price, Muir is forecasting, will advance five per cent to $490,900 in 2010 then eke out just one-per-cent growth to $494,800 in 2011.

Muir characterized his forecast as 2009 ending with a “gold medal finish, [which] will give way to a silver medal performance in 2010.”

“Affordability is the biggest factor over the longer term,” Muir added in an interview, “because home prices in markets such as Victoria and Vancouver are trending on record levels, and mortgage rates are likely to edge higher at the end of this year and through 2011.

“That’s going to increase the carrying cost of housing, and by extension, overall housing demand.”

Home carrying costs, the monthly mortgage payment, taxes and other fees, saw a dramatic trim during the downturn that lasted through the last half of 2008 and first part of 2009, but Muir noted that that advantage is rapidly disappearing.

In his forecast, Muir estimates that the markets that roared back the most in 2009 — Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Victoria — will be among those with the most muted results in 2010 and 2011.