Construction began on 133 new single-family homes in Prince George and area during 2014, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing numbers released last week.
That's up from 126 during 2013 but still well down from the 14-year peak of 288 witnessed in 2007 before the economic meltdown. The most recent peak occurred in 2012, where there were 160 starts.
Multiple family continued to be a smaller portion of the home building activity in and around Prince George where there were starts on 25 units compared to 69 the year before.
Canadian Homebuilders Association - Northern B.C. director Allen Creuzot called 2014 "pretty active."
"Everybody seemed to be very busy," he said. "Sales may have been a bit sluggish on the new homes toward the end of the year but they seemed to be relatively stable."
Looking ahead, Creuzot, who operates Creuzot Homes and Construction Ltd., said 2015 could be more active in anticipation of some big construction projects getting off the ground, be they liquified natural gas, pipelines or the Site C dam.
"And we're still in a situation right now where interest rates are low and it is still a good time to purchase homes," Creuzot said.
Tempering that, Creuzot said changes to the B.C. Building Code intended to make homes more energy efficient will increase costs of their construction due to more expensive materials.
"I can see the cost of a home going up anywhere from eight to 12 per cent with everything taken into consideration," Creuzot said.
In the lead up to the new regulations coming into place on Dec. 19, Creuzot said there was a rush to obtain building permits from city hall for new homes. Numbers for December are not out yet, but in November, 15 permits were taken out for $4.2 million, compared to four permits for $1 million the year before.
As of the end of November, 116 permits for $32.2 million worth of new homes were taken out in 2014, up from 90 permits for $24.5 million and 111 permits for $28.1 million by the same points in 2013 and 2012 respectively.
A start for CMHC is counted when the foundation has been put in place.
