It appears that a dry spell of new home construction is over in the town of Altona.

There were zero new builds in the community during the first six months of each 2016 and 2017, bringing residential construction to a virtual standstill. However, after checking in with the RPGA Planning District Mayor Melvin Klassen said 2018 is shaping up to be different.

"I checked with our manager and she's telling me that there are four new housing starts as of now and she says even these last two weeks there's been a lot of activity, a lot of inquiries going on as to what they would have to do to build a new house. So that's very encouraging," he added.

Klassen offered some thoughts on why he thinks interest has increased.

"About three years ago Gardens on Tenth came on the scene and a lot of people were moving into there (while) others were moving into the homes these Gardens tenants were leaving, they were upgrading somewhat. And then that made a lot of starter homes available and people were picking them up. I think that splurge is over and because there's more of a shortage right now, people are starting to build again."

So far, there has been $1.4 million dollars in new housing and renovations in Altona in 2018.

Klassen noted this increased interest has him encouraged there will be more new homes built in the second half of the year as well.