The BC Real Estate Association figures are now out for July 2019.

As you can see from the Graph sales were up and listings were down, for the first time in a while.

It will be interesting to see if this is an anomaly, as July is often a quieter month in Kelowna and the Okanagan Valley, or whether Buyers are genuinely coming to terms with the more stringent Lending Rules that have been holding them back for the last year - 18 months.

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 7,930 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in July, an increase of 12.4 percent from the same month last year. The average MLS® residential price in the province was $684,497, a decline of 1.6 percent from July 2018. Total sales dollar volume was $5.43 billion, a 10.5 percent increase from the same month last year.

“BC home sales climbed higher for the first time in 18 months on a year-over-year basis in July,” said BCREA...

Summer is now in full swing in the Okanagan, and locals and Tourists alike are enjoying the things we are most famous for - sunny Lakeshore days, Boating, Hiking, Biking, Golf, Cherries, Peaches, and Wine!

As summer was a little later in arriving this year, I am guessing that we are going to see subdued Real Estate activity throughout the valley during August, except in the more 'affordable' housing market.

When you take a quick 'glance' at our Kelowna Real Estate Inventory, you will see numbers continue to be on the higher side, but when you are actually looking for something specific, there have been several times where it has been tricky to find!

Depending on which price point, type of property and location that you are looking for your buying and selling experience can be very different. One size certainly does not fit all at the moment!

The Median Days on Market for a Kelowna Single-family home, for instance, in the $400,000 to $600,000 range has been 30 days, and with 'due diligence'...

The latest Buyers Survey Results are now available for the Kelowna and Central Okanagan Real Estate Market for June 2019.

There were fewer people 'moving up', more people purchasing similar properties, fewer people downsizing and more people moving into Retirement Communities.

Local buyers were a little more active, Lower Mainland Buyers Slightly less and Alberta Buyers slightly higher.

Here is the full summary below.

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

First Time Buyer – 18.95%

Revenue Property Investor – 10.46%

Moving Up – 14.71%

Similar Property Type – 21.24%

Downsizing – 15.69%

Single-family Residential to Strata – 5.23%

Recreational Property – 5.88%

Retirement Community – 4.58%

Strata to Single Family – 3.59%

Describe the Buyer (family dynamic):

Couple without children – 22.22%

Two Parent family/children – 28.43%

Empty nesters or retired – 25.49%

Single female – 10.78%

Single...

Kelowna & Central Okanagan Real Estate Sales June 2019.

Last month-:

- Total Sales were down 12.3% last month.

- Single-Family Homes sales down 7.9%

- Strata sales down 17.6%.

When we compare the numbers to last years:

Compared to last year -

- Overall sales were down 8.6%

- Single-Family Home sales down 7.9%

- Strata sales were down 6.6%.

June is traditionally a busier month for Real Estate sales in Kelowna and the Central Okanagan, but this year it was one of the quietest for many years. 

That being said, I had two new listings, one a +55  Condo in a popular Lower Mission location and one in a great Family Home neighborhood in West Kelowna, 1 received an offer the first day and the other in less than 14 days.

This tells me that there is still strong demand in certain...

Welcome to my 1/2 year report on the Quail Ridge & UBCO Kelowna Real Estate Market.

Single Family Homes

Current Listing Price Range for Sale   $649,900 - $1,699,000

Average Days on Market  2018 - 43 Days 2019 -114 Days

The Mortgage Stress Tests continues to have a bearing on Home Sales in the Quail Ridge area. Some Buyers worked around this by buying Homes with suites.

With Quail Ridge being close to UBCO and a winter transit service available, the extra income from rentals provided some welcome income support to Quail home buyers.

Current listings & recent sales show most of the homes have no suites, which is likely to have been a factor in homes taking 2 1/2 times longer to sell.

At my Quail Ridge Open Houses, people have certainly...

With our ever changing Real Estate Market in British Columbia, Buyers and Sellers are continuing to keep an anxious eye on what is to come during the next year.

There's no doubt about it the B 20 stress test on Mortgages, has had a dramatic effect on housing sales, and many agents, including myself, are seeing deals collapse due to Buyers being unable to obtaining Financing.

This is one of the reasons we are seeing an increase in Demand for homes with suites to provide that valuable added income which will allow some local buyers to buy homes normally out of their price range.

The latest BC Real Estate Association Forecast is now published, and here are the details that effect Kelowna and the Central Okanagan Area.

MLS® home sales in the Thompson-Okanagan region, which is serviced by the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board (OMREB), the South Okanagan Real Estate Board (SOREB) and the Kamloops & District Real Estate Board (KADREA), fell a combined 17 percent in 2018 and home sales...