Housing starts in the City of Grande Prairie saw a small uptick last month, but nothing near what’s need to get back to last year’s pace. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says construction started on five new single family homes and three multi-unit buildings in March, up from four and two respectively in the same month of 2017.
Last year, Grande Prairie recorded the second slowest year for new home construction in a decade, following 2016’s dip. So far in 2018, there have been a total of 14 housing starts, down more than 40 per cent from 24 a year ago.
In the County of Grande Prairie, however, numbers are up. Over the first quarter of 2018, work has begun on 24 new single family homes, up from 16 from January to March 2017. The County’s housing starts last year were just slightly down from 2016’s.