Ñow mortgage-interest rates were definitely the key they released this pent-up demand for new homes, said Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. analyst Paul Fabri.
ombine that with retirees and baby boomers buying retirement and second homes here and a growing economy and population spurring first-time and move-up buys, and you have this very vibrant, diverse market.ÿ/p>
In Kelowna last year construction started on 1,590 homes of all kinds (single family, condos, apartments and townhouses), up 43 per cent from the 1,111 starts in 2001.
Pentictonô starts were up 119 per cent to 261 from 119 in 2001.
In Vernon, the increase was only two per cent to 271 from 265.
-ll through the year, you could just feel it was a good one, said Charles Cullen, president of the Kelowna branch of the Canadian Home Builders Association.
-nd all indicators are it will be maintained in 2003.
The home-building surge is based on the huge baby boom generation.
Boomers are of the age now that they are either in their prime earnings years, are retiring with a lifetime of savings or are receiving large inheritances as their parents die.
All of this gives people money to buy homes be it a big family home, a luxurious empty-nest dwelling, a retirement abode, a second home or vacation place.
xhe baby boom generation also sees a home as a solid, secure investment that they can live in and use especially in this time of stock market uncertainty, points out Cullen.
Baby boomers are more and more in the practice of buying non-traditional homes.
That means rather than the standard, single-family, fully-detached suburban model, they want places on a golf course or a ski hill a luxury condo that they can leave to travel, a gated community, even congregate care as they get older.
All such places are more expensive than typical homes, which is why the most construction in the Valley is in the mid- to upper-price range.
