Industry is always paramount in the long term sustainability and growth of a community. With this foundation already in place you can bet that the downtown core will benefit. Whether it's small businesses or larger chains looking to expand, The potential for big investments in Princeton are high.
Growth doesn't come without growing pains though. It will be necessary for Princeton to focus on new housing developments to relieve the housing shortage we are already experiencing. This will require expansion of new infrastructure plus increased stress on our current system and will cost the community in the short term. But with smart planning and budgeting, the community will benefit from increased tax revenue that will improve family programs and social investments.
Lower mainland's growth into BC's interior has help here with appreciating land values in the past two years. But government intervention is trying to push back. The provincial Speculation Tax and the federal "Stress Test' rules are starting to take their toll on the markets. Vancouver and the Okanagan are seeing decreasing sales for the first time in years and will continue lower until the economy improves or government regulations ease.
Princeton continues to see strong buyer demand as people continue to migrate out of the pricey lower mainland. Property values should remain stable here because of exceptionally low housing inventory, while an increasing housing shortage will elevate rental rates. Sales have been lower in the first two months of 2019 but we are already seeing increased buyer activity as the weather finally warms up. It will be interesting to see how our market plays out this year as we see industry and buyer demand on one end but government regulation and intervention pushing back on the other end.
Lee Mowry
