Nobody home

Census data shows Lake Country has highest percentage of empty homes in Central Okanagan

Lake Country has the highest percentage of empty homes in the Central Okanagan, data from the 2016 census shows.

Almost 14 per cent of all dwellings in the municipality were vacant or not used as a primary residence at the time of last year’s census.

The comparable figures for the rest of the region are 6.2 per cent in Kelowna, 5.8 per cent in West Kelowna and 10.5 per cent in Peachland.

But there is considerable variation within Kelowna on the number of empty or non-resident homes, ranging from about one-quarter of dwellings along the downtown waterfront and lakeside neighbourhoods south of the bridge to almost total occupancy of Rutland homes and parts of Glenmore.

Empty or non-resident homes may be vacation-only properties, or dwellings that are bought purely for investment purposes with the owners intending to sell them in fairly short order.

Across the Central Okanagan, eight per cent of all dwellings are empty or occupied by non-residents. That’s comparable to the figures for both the province as a whole and the City of Vancouver.

The variations within the greater Kelowna area, however, reflect areas of significant new construction activity where newly built homes may not yet have been sold, as well as a neighbourhood’s appeal to speculative investors and purchasers of second homes and vacation properties.

For example, in the downtown waterfront — bounded by Highway 97, Richter Street, Clement Avenue and Ellis Street — there are 2,029 dwellings. But 470 of them — almost one-quarter — were empty or occupied by non-residents at the time of last summer’s census.

Farther south, in the Lower Mission neighbourhood between Okanagan Lake, Gordon Drive, Mission Creek and Swordy Road, almost 17 per cent of the 2,248 dwellings are empty or occupied by non-residents.

On the other hand, less than five per cent of the homes in three older areas of downtown Kelowna north of Clement Avenue have empty or non-resident homes.

The number of empty or non-resident homes was equally low, or lower, in most Rutland neighbourhoods.

In Lake Country, 12 per cent of all dwellings west of Highway 97 are empty or occupied by

non-residents. On the east side of the highway, the figure is 16 per cent.

Lake Country has had two successive years of record construction with total building permits worth $92 million in 2016.

The town has long been popular with buyers of second residences given the number of properties with lake views and scenic settings in agricultural areas, Coun. Penny Gambell noted Sunday.

“I’m almost surprised the number of empty (or non-resident) homes isn’t higher than 14 per cent,” Gambell said.

It would be preferable to have homes occupied year-round rather than sitting empty, she said.

“You want to have a sustainable community, and if you have a lot of homes that are empty most of the time, that certainly makes it difficult to develop or support a business community,” Gambell said.

“That would definitely be a concern if the number of empty homes was 40 per cent but, at 14 per cent, I don’t know if we’re there yet,” Gambell said.