The latest Buyers Survey Results have now been published for the Kelowna Real Estate Market and Central Okanagan Area for April 2019.

Points of interest this month -:

- 61.37% of Buyers were local compared to 56.2% in April 2018.

- 15.07% of Buyers came from the Lower Mainland compared to 20.2% April 2018 - highlighting the effects of the dip in their Real Estate Markets.

- 9.59% of Buyers came from Alberta, which was up from 9.1% last year.

Here is the full summary below.

Overview Property Type:

23.48% First Time Purchase (down from 24.00% in March)

19.61% Move Up Purchase (up from 19.11%)

16.85% Relocating to Similar Property Type (up from 15.56%)

8.29% Revenue/Investment (up from 8.00%)

15.75% Downsizing (up from 14.67%)

5.52% Moving from Single-family Home to Strata Unit (up from 4.89%)

2.76% Moving from Strata Property to Single Family Home (up from 2.67%)

5.25% Recreational Property (up from 4.89%)

2.49% Retirement Home/Seniors Community (up from 0.89%)

Buyer Type (Family Dynamic):...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 6,652 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in April, a decline of 18.9 per cent from the same month last year.

The average MLS® residential price in the province was $685,304, a decline of 6.2 per cent from April 2018. Total sales dollar volume was $4.6 billion, a 23.9 per cent decline from the same month last year.

“BC home sales were essentially unchanged from March on a seasonally adjusted basis,” said BCREA Chief Economist Cameron Muir. “Prospective home buyers continue to grapple with the decline in their purchasing power caused by federal government changes to mortgage policy.” Total MLS® residential active listings increased 33.6 per cent to 38,672 units compared to the same month last year. The ratio of sales to active residential listings declined from 28.4 per cent to 17.2 per cent over the same period.

Year-to-date, BC residential...

April started off slower than in recent years, which is to be expected given the current state of the market, but interestingly, rather than 'ramping up' heading into May, Agents are reporting the phones quieter.

Why? Well, there is no real reason. Interest Rates are looking more settled, the Mortgage Stress Test is here to stay, (the effects now seem to be flattening out - see the graph below) and Economic Indicators are improving for the Okanagan according to the latest Report.

Kelowna & Central Okanagan Real Estate Sales April 2019.

Last month-:

- Sales were up 22.9% on last month.

- Single-Family Homes sales up 45%

- Strata sales up 6.5%.

Compared to last year -:

- Overall sales were down 13.3%

- Single-Family Home sales down 10.8%

- Strata sales down 12.2%.

Inventory Levels...