Developers in Edmonton have been busy over the last five years building homes to keep up with the province’s growing population. In its state of the region report, BILD Edmonton Metro found that housing starts have gone up 131 per cent over the last five years, compared to just 19 per cent nationally. But Edmonton is not the only community in the region that has seen a surge in recent builds. “Edmonton continues to be a major engine of growth, but communities like Beaumont, Leduc and Spruce Grove are also growing very quickly,” said BILD Edmonton’s CEO Kale Anderson. “And we’re not just building more homes, we’re building a greater variety of homes. “Single-family construction remains strong, while row homes and apartments are becoming a much larger part of the housing mix.” The BILD report also includes a breakdown of how the 13 municipalities in the region compare on 18 development metrics such as property taxes, population growth and median home prices. “What’s interesting when you look at the results is that there isn’t one municipality that leads on everything,” said Paul Lanning, BILD Edmonton’s board chair.. “Beaumont has the region’s largest average annual growth rate over the last five years. Devon has the lowest median home prices. “The point isn’t to say one municipality is better than another. The point is to understand where different communities have strengths, where they face challenges, and what we might be able to learn from one another.” BILD Edmonton Metro has a membership of more than 500 companies in the development industry. It represents and advocates for the building, land development and residential construction industry across the capital region. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson
