According to a report by city staff to the city council, Kelowna is Canada’s fastest-growing metropolitan area, however, the city continues to struggle with housing affordability.
In 2022, the monthly mortgage cost for the average detached home sold in Kelowna will exceed $6,000 and the average cost for a condo sold in the same year will be close to $3,000 per month.
For comparison, the average Kelowna household earned just over $105,000 in 2020, meaning that at this level, the monthly mortgage cost for a condo alone would eat up 41 percent of their after-tax income, the report said.
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“For an average family, it is prohibitive,” said Kelowna Municipal Councilor Mohini Singh.
“How do you pay for a roof over your head, how do you put Cheerios on the table for your kids, how do you get shoes on their feet? That’s a lot of money,” Singh said.
In Kelowna, one bedroom apartments go for close to $2,000 per month and two bedrooms average around $2,500 per month.
Between 2016 and 2021, the city’s population is set to increase by over 13 per cent, and with the growth, the city is trying to meet the demand from rent-seekers.
“There’s a lot this council has done, we approve hundreds of rental units almost weekly to try to make renting more affordable for people, but somehow trying to keep up with the demand,” Singh said. It’s hard to do.”
The city is working at all levels of government to address the issue of housing affordability, and council is expected to review the report on Monday to discuss what steps to take moving forward.
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