New home construction in Altona has remained stagnant for the first six months of the year. No new homes were built in the first half of 2017, which parallels the first half of last year.

It's a rather surprising development for a community that has enjoyed steady housing growth over the past decade leading up to last year.

Mayor Melvin Klassen says the construction of the 66 unit, Gardens On Tenth building has simply resulted in more options for home buyers. As tenants moved into the new seniors housing facility, their houses went up for sale, which has been good for the local re-sale market.

"When I talk to local real estate agents, they're saying there has been good movement of homes. So that's been happening, but also, if you take those 66 units over a two year period, that gives us 22 new homes per year. So, there has been growth that way."

Klassen admits, new home construction activity is far from being robust, but feels that situation is about to turn for the better.

"One of the developers came to me last week, and feels people are beginning to kick the tires on new homes, and I've heard there are two homes that could be starting up, which means there is potential for some activity this year. I'm not saying we'll be building 10 to 15 news houses, but things seem to be shaking out a bit."