Oh Goody, now the prices can go up like the rest of the province. Who needs affordable housing anyway?

A little suspect number when a couple of houses one way or the other means big gains in percentage of increase.

the higher prices will again deflate once the bettle kill lumber is exhausted and the olympics are over..........the main thing attracting people to PG were the lower house prices. Expect this to flatten out too just like enrolement at UNBC.

Hey guys,

Give your heads a shake and take them out of the sand!!!

There are new economic forces starting to come into play in our City that we have never experienced before.

Good advice Runner, except I'd suggest pulling your head out of the sand first, THEN giving it a shake.

It's 2007 folks, not 1977, 1987 or even 1997 - there's as much good going on now as there ever was (and as much bad, for that matter) but the rules have changed.

Get with the program, or get outa the way.

Thanks for the heads up, Jeth !!!!!!!

Sorry Boys/Girls. The statistics do not support any great growth in this area in the coming years. There are no new economic forces anywhere that I am aware of. Every somewhat major project in the next 10 years is funded by some level of Government. Bridges, Co-Generation Plants, Performing Arts Centre, Police Station, Camerson St., Bridge. These are not Mega Projects. No big investments by Private business that I am aware of, except the Brick and the like which is only a move from downtown to 16 West.

The so-called Airport Runway expansion that is supposed to generate some new business in planned over a 20 year period so I wouldnt hold my breath on that one. The Containers from Prince Rupert will whistle through here in the dead of night and have no impact whatsoever on Prince George. Fraser River Bench land sub-division is planned over 20 years, and the one on Tynor Blvd probably over 10 years.

The population of Prince George increased from 77,151 in 2005 to 77,343 in 2006. BC Statistics numbers.

Births in 2006 were 1074 Deaths 423 net gain of 651.

In 2001 we had 6030 people between the age of 15-19. and 5205 people between the age of 20-24. These people would now be 20-24 and 25-30. Total 11,235. a large number of these people now live and work in Prince George and would be buying houses, or renting houses, and therefore would account for a large number of the house sales and the rentals, however the population hasnt changed, and therefore there is no growth from outside the City.

Moving Companies will tell you that there are as many people moving out of Prince George as there are moving in, and therefore there is no growth there. They will also tell you that most of their moving business last year was within the City.

What this means is that housing will level off and prices will probably fall, and we will get another 5/10 years of negative growth.

At last....now i can sell my duplex...........and make some $$$$ took for ever.....

Housing prices have risen and will continue to rise for the foreseable future for one reason and one reason only.

This area has been a depressed market, both price wise and perceptually.

The low interest rate and the feel good of the people that are working are causing many to move up or look to invest from here or elsewhere.

This is going on right now.

Day by day houses are being listed and sold. The time from listing to selling can be measured in hours not days.

It is not because of new industries "yet".

But mark my words, hold your breath........you ain`t seen nothin yet!

. Palopu, you missed one.

The number of employed people in PG fell 5% last year by something like 2700 jobs that disappeared in this city. IMO that kind of job lose is not sustainable with a 'booming' housing market. I'm suspect and would be curious to see if they can stop the massive haemorrhaging of jobs from the city of PG in the year 2007.

If PG is lucky places like Tumbler Ridge and the Peace country will continue to expand their employment base and employ more and more people that are home based in Prince George.

Selling season is in the spring so we can expect the selling pitch to begin....

There There are those who “Make things happen”, those that “Watch things happen” and those who say…”what just happened”.
Prince George is in a new era. Prosper from it.

There is absolutley **Nothing** to indicate Prince George is in a new era.

School enrollments down.
Employment down.
Population static for 10 years.
No **New Industry** established in the past 20/30 years.

It would be nice to hear from those people who expect growth in the next 10 years to indicate where they think it might come from.

i am glad that i can dump my place at last and walk away from that dirty ole town.....If BC ever learns how too observe production provinces like AB maybe....just maybe we will return....if they clean up ole PG that is....

With our borrow and spend economy, and the ability to purchase houses with no down payment, interest only mortgages, and 35 year mortgages, and interest rates at a 50 year low, it doesn't surprise me that house prices are rising. The only question I have is how long is this going to last. We have been through this boom-bust cycle many times before.

Those houses in a potentially "attractive" older district of downtown are going to make it look like just any other subdivision ....

Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes, little boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.

There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.

And the people in the houses
All go to the university,
And they all get put in boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
And there's doctors and there's lawyers
And business executives,
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.

And they all play on the golf-course,
And drink their Martini dry,
And they all have pretty children,
And the children go to school.
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university,
And they all get put in boxes
And they all come out the same.

And the boys go into business,
And marry, and raise a family,
And they all get put in boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.

---------------------

I wish we had someone with a better imagination to develop the area with housing infill which is badly needed in the downtown. Right location .. but could be more imaginative design.

Oh well. Maybe next time around.

"Housing starts (in Prince George) actually created a new record in 2006 - its highest level since 1997"

I keep asking whether these people forgot about the real boom years in PG when the numbers were at least three times as much, and on a percentage basis even higher.

I.E. if 2006 was highest since 1997, 1997 was highest since when, and so on?

2006 - 320 housing starts
1997 - 460 housing starts
1996 - 441
1993 - 426
1992 - 460

then it dropped off .. likely right to 1981 or so ...

So, we have to increase housing starts by 50% over last year in order to get to the 1992 to 1997 ranges .... won't even talk about the mid 1960's to the late 1970s ...

http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/data/dd/handout/hstart.pdf

Just returning tho this again.

I thought I would address another spin:

"A market analyst with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says, as was the case in 2006, Prince George will continue to outperform the rest of B.C. in terms of housing starts."

What is this analyst reporting on?

Here is the link to the compiled data from CMHC in their final quarter report of 2006 - the latest available.

http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/CMHC/HN/NH12-21E/NH12-21-2006-4E.pdf

Look at page 8 of 26 of the report for the full year.

For communities with 50,000 to 99,999 population:

Chilliwack - 1,218; up 26.1 % from 2005
Kamloops - 680 up 15.4 %
Kelowna - 2,692 down by 2.3%
Nanaimo - 785 down by 13.3%
Prince George - 320; up 12.7%
Vernon - 519; up 25.1%

So, in our category we have the lowest actual starts by a longshot. Percentage increase year to year is headed by Chilliwack and Vernon with PG third at half their rate increase.

There are 27 centres reporting. Of those there are 13 which have a higher year to year percentage change than PG. So, we are bang on in the middle of the pack.

Six of the 18 centres in the under 50,000 population communities have higher actual starts than we do.

Why do we even bother getting reports from analysts when they cannot even read their own reports?

Were we not speaking about functional illiteracy as well as spin on this site recently ....

Man, it sure ain't difficult to find these days......

Oh, forgot one thing. 16 of the 27 municipalities in the report are higher than the provincial average, thus share that dubious honour with PG.

When Vancouver, which is almost 2/3 of the provincial housing starts has a hiccup of -1.1% it is easy to find many other areas which are above the average.