Two recent reports give Prince George's quality of life a check mark of approval.
According to Initiatives Prince George, the two studies make a strong case for this being a wise investment city. One looked at overall economic performance and the second looked at real estate rates.
"The Prince George economy performed much better than the provincial economy over the past three years according to a recent report released by the Conference Board of Canada," said IPG communications manager Christina Doll, citing the first report.
The Conference Board's report entitled Economic History of Canada's Mid-Sized Cities looked at 46 communities across Canada. "The report found that over the 2010 to 2012 period, the Prince George economy experienced average annual growth of 4.7 per cent, compared to 2.4 per cent across British Columbia," Doll said.
The real estate assessments were disclosed in the British Columbia Northern Real Estate Board's 10th annual Housing Affordability Study for Northern British Columbia report. In it, said NREB executive officer Alexandra Goseltine, an affordability trend continues.
"As with years prior, the study shows that northern communities continue to be affordable places to buy single detached family homes," Goseltine said. "Costs in northern B.C. are about 31.6 per cent of median family income compared to 66.4 per cent for the entire province. Vancouver's total was 82.2 per cent."
The real estate study predicted a slight increase in unit sales for the coming year, going from 4,044 in 2012 to a predicted 4,200 in 2013 and 4,400 in 2014.
"A faster growing economy is credited for the expected strengthening of the housing market," said Doll.
