Economic Indicators November 2019

Airport Passenger Volumes

We’re continuing to recover from comparisons to last year’s record numbers which saw a stronger Rouge presence in 2018 than in 2019. Passenger growth from September to October is up over 9% which is approximately 2% higher than normal during the shoulder season transition and indicators are pointing to a strong finish toward year end. Effective October 27th, Air Canada Express increased its frequencies to both Vancouver and Calgary, providing better connections to these key markets.

Source: Kamloops Airport Authority

MLS® residential active listings in the province were up 1 per cent from September 2018 to 36,567 units, although down slightly when compared on a seasonally adjusted basis. With sales and listings down, overall market conditions in the province have tightened, with a sales-to-active listings ratio of 21 per cent.

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was down 9 per cent to $45.3 billion, compared with the same period in 2018. Residential unit sales were 6.2 per cent lower at 65,468 units, while the average MLS® residential price was down 3 per cent year-to-date at $691,618.

Sources: Kamloops and District Real Estate Association, BC Real Estate Association, and Canadian Real Estate Association

There were 111 new housing starts in Kamloops in October 2019, which was up from the 63 starts in October 2018. The 111 housing starts represented $24,185,198 in construction value, compared to $18,358,322 in construction value for the 63 housing starts in October of the previous year.

Source: City of Kamloops; Statistics Canada

In October 2019, the City of Kamloops issued 41 residential building permits valued at $24,492,198 up from the 39 permits issued in October of the previous year at a value of $19,225,572. A total of 8 commercial building permits were issued in October 2019 with a value of $12,269,140 compared to the 7 permits issued in October 2018 with a value of $3,905,347.

Source: City of Kamloops