‘Everyone seems fairly swamped now’

“But other than that, I think the economic impact around employment, our industry, our companies in town are depending on these big projects to be here – and here we are.”

About 90 per cent of the money for those two projects comes from the private sector, Hall also noted.

“When the private sector starts to invest in your community you know they’ve got faith in what we’re doing as a community and faith in what Prince George is all about, so that’s very good news,” Hall said.

Also weighing in among the major projects is the $13.4-million Inland Kenworth building on Highway 97 South across from Sintich Trailer Park. Work on that project began in May.

The cumulative effect of new single-family homes has so far registered to the tune of $21.8 million on 78 permits, compared to $5.3 million on 18 permits by the same point last year.

The numbers are in contrast to figures from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which say there have been starts on 65 projects over the first half of 2016, down from 81 by the same point last year.

“I think most of us experienced a later start this year – my company did and the trades confirmed that we were one of the busier builders,” said Canadian Home Builders Association – Northern B.C. president Jody Tindall.

“Everyone seems fairly swamped now so you should see the CMHC numbers pick up by the end of August.”

By midway through 2012, 60 permits for $15.3 million worth of new single family homes were issued and by the end of June 2007, the figure was $27.5 million on 120 permits.

Also as of the end of June, single-family homes had sold for an average of $300,903, according to the B.C. Northern Real Estate Board, up $18,649 or 6.6 per cent from the average price for the first six months of 2015. Total sales added up to 484, two less than the total midway through last year.

The real estate board’s past president David Black said the market has been “pretty stable,” although there is a lack of inventory.

“If people are thinking about selling their houses, now is a great time because demand is there and we haven’t seen a downturn in prices,” Black said. “In the March-April time we would normally have six, seven, eight, nine hundred listings and I think we’re about four or five hundred coming through this year, so it’s a significant drop.”

With the price of homes remaining on the rise, Tindall also said there’s been a stronger interest in custom-built homes.

“For the price it’s at, they may as well get the home they want,” Tindall said.