Home construction in Medicine Hat this year is seeing more bigger builds but fewer homes overall, says the president of BILD Medicine Hat. (Photo Courtesy Ross Lavigne)

By Chris Brown

No market: fewer starter homes being built in Medicine Hat this year

Aug 17, 2023 | 2:02 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The president of BILD Medicine Hat says bigger houses are driving what she calls a strong home-building situation in Medicine Hat.

The bigger builds have kept the overall workload the same in the industry, says Jackie Taylor, but the number of lower-cost houses being built is down from last year.

“The starter home market doesn’t really exist in new home construction right now unless we’re looking at multi-family or multi-unit,” Taylor says. “The cost of land, the cost of materials right off the bat puts that out of the market. How do you build a $250,000 house when the lot is $150,000. So it makes it unattainable for most people. So we do have contractors in our organization in the city that are trying to address that with multi-family units.”

According to City of Medicine Hat stats, just 11 permits have been issued for house builds, four for duplexes and one for a manufactured home through the first seven months of 2023.

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In the same period last year 28 house permits, nine duplex permits and four manufactured home permits were issued. There were also five tri- and four-plex permits and nine apartment permits issued.

Taylor says there are a few reasons for the lower number of builds.

Some people are buying and renovating already-built homes and lot availability isn’t meeting what others are looking for.

In some cases, it comes down to money.

“The amount of red tape that’s required to even before ground can be broken adds a big cost to housing that doesn’t necessarily get seen as value to the end consumer,” Taylor says. “Interest rates are casing people to pull back, and even just cost of goods. We’ve all seen it. Since COVID they’ve all gone up, not all of them have come back down yet. So there’s just hesitancy regarding financing and making sure that the market is a stable place.”

Taylor says her group is working with the municipal and provincial governments and the national counterpart is working with the federal government to get the industry moving again.

She says currently there is building or prep work being done in Coulee Ridge, Ranchlands, Saamis Heights and the Hamptons.

Parade of Homes

Next month BILD Medicine Hat kicks off its annual Parade of Homes.

Taylor says six homes are scheduled so far in Coulee Ridge, Dessert Blume, Dunmore and other areas and they’re excited to showcase what the building community has to offer.

The Parade of Homes is scheduled for Sept. 6 to Oct. 8.