The latest Kelowna Real Estate Buyers Survey Results are now out, for August 2020.

Move up Buyers and Recreational Buyers, together Two-Parent Families with Children were busier in the market last month.

There were slightly less local Buyers, and less Buyers in the Kelowna / West Kelowna area, whereas there were more Buyers in the Vernon / Coldstream area.

Here is the full report.

Best describe your most recent Buyer (moving to/from property type)

First Time Buyer – 14.22% (15.10%)

Revenue Property Investor – 9.71% (8.92%)

Moving Up – 23.48% (21.28%)

Similar Property Type – 20.54% (21.74%)

Downsizing – 14.00% (11.44%)

Single family Res to Strata – 2.26% (5.26%)

Recreational Property – 11.06% ( 8.47%)

Retirement Community – 0.90%(2.29%)

Strata to Single Family – 2.03%  (3.20%)

Describe the Buyer (family dynamic):

Couple without children – 25.23% (25.28%)

Two Parent family/children – 33.11% (28.44%)

Empty nesters...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 10,172 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in August 2020, an increase of 42.8 per cent from August 2019.

The average MLS® residential price in BC was $771,309, a 12.7 per cent increase from $684,093 recorded the previous year. Total sales dollar volume in August was $7.8 billion, a 61.1 per cent increase over 2019. “Very strong provincial home sales continued in August,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “While pent-up demand from the spring is driving much of the increase, we anticipate a sustained strong level of sales through the fall.”

Total provincial active listings are still down more than 10 per cent year-over-year, with some markets even more under-supplied as the pandemic continues to keep listings low.

As a result, prices are sharply rising around the province. Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was...

August 2020 was another hot month for the Kelowna Real Estate Market!

Some Buyers experienced challenges gaining household insurance, due to the forest fires in Penticton, but happily, these have subsided now, and I have not heard of anyone having issues recently.

Demand for homes and townhomes was active throughout the month and after a slow start for Condos, we saw more activity towards the end of the month.

More parents and investors have been looking around the University area and they are looking to complete purchases, as late in the year as possible, ready for students hopefully starting school at UBCO, in January 2021.

Interestingly, I have also had a few more inquiries from Sellers looking to sell now, so I am anticipating seeing a few more listings coming on the market in the next little while, which will be unusual for this time of year.

Kelowna & Central Okanagan Real Estate Sales August 2020.

While sales numbers were not as high as July, they were still very impressive.

The latest Kelowna and Central Okanagan Real Estate Buyers Survey Results are now out for July 2020.

First-time buyers were less busy in the Market last month, while Investments and Recreational Property Buyers were busier.

There were also a lot more Buyers from the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.

Here are the full results -:

Best describe your most recent Buyer (moving to/from property type)

First Time Buyer – 15.10% (20.82%)

Revenue Property Investor – 8.92% (5.91%)

Moving Up – 21.28% (20.57%)

Similar Property Type – 21.74% (19.54%)

Downsizing – 11.44% (12.85%)

Single-family Res to Strata – 5.26% (5.66%)

Recreational Property – 8.47% (7.71%)

Retirement Community – 2.29% (1.80%)

Strata to Single Family – 3.2% (3.34%)

Describe the Buyer (family dynamic):

Couple without children – 25.28% (28.02%)

Two Parent family/children – 28.44% (27.76%)

Empty nesters or retired – 21.67% (17.99%)

Single female – 9.93% (14.65%)...

The BC Real Estate Association has now published its Q3 Housing Report.

Multiple Listing Service^® (MLS^®) residential sales in the province are forecast to rise by 6.5 per cent to 82,380 units this year, after recording 77,351 residential sales in 2019. MLS^® residential sales are forecast to increase by 17.6 per cent to 96,860 units in 2021.

“The outlook for the BC housing market is much brighter following a surprisingly strong recovery,” said Brendon Ogmundson, BCREA Chief Economist. “We expect home sales will sustain this momentum into 2021, aided by record-low mortgage rates and a recovering economy.”  

With home sales more than fully recovered and now above pre-COVID-19 levels, combined with a decline in the supply of re-sale listings driven by the pandemic, many markets are now seeing sharply rising average prices despite a weak provincial economy. We are forecasting the provincial MLS® average price to finish the year up...

Vancouver, BC – August 13, 2020.

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 10,090 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in July 2020, an increase of 26.6 per cent from July 2019. The average MLS® residential price in BC was $770,810, a 12.9 per cent increase from $682,702 recorded the previous year. Total sales dollar volume in July was $7.8 billion, a 43 per cent increase over 2019.

“The strong recovery in sales activity continued in July,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “Increased demand for more living space combined with an undersupplied market is producing significant upward pressure on home prices, particularly in the market for single-family homes.”

Active listings remain down significantly year-over-year, creating upward pressure on prices, though increased demand for single-family homes has somewhat skewed average prices in some markets.

Year-to-date,...