Local housing construction down in May, annually

Jun 15, 2026 | 1:03 PM

Greater Vernon continued to see declines in the housing construction sector in the fifth month of 2026.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said there were 19 housing starts locally in May of 2026, which was down from 21 starts recorded in the same month the year before.

The projects started this past May included 10 apartments, seven single family houses, and two demi-detached homes.

A total of 75 housing projects had been started in Greater Vernon over the previous five months, which was also down from the 85 starts during the same period in 2025.

CMHC did say there were six housing projects completed in May, and a year-to-date total of 119 projects finished in Greater Vernon, though did not have comparable data from previous years. The projects completed in May involved four single family houses and two semi-detached homes.

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Kelowna also saw a similar trend with 244 housing starts in May and 936 total starts over the five month period, both of which were down on an annual basis.

The province and the nation saw housing construction decline in May, but figures were still trending above the previous year’s combined totals.

In B.C. there were 2,970 housing starts this past May, bringing the year-to-date total to 17,283. Comparatively, May 2025 saw 3,078 starts, though the five-month total was recorded at 15,167.

Across Canada there were 22,633 housing starts in May of 2026 for a year-to-date total of 93,644. In May of 2025 there were 23,864 housing projects started across the country, but there were only 91,131 starts during that five month period that year.

by Liam Verster

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