2021 record year for Okanagan real estate sales
Despite a slowdown in residential real estate sales in the Okanagan in December, it was still a record-setting year in total.
“Even with a typical seasonal slowdown, sales across the region surpassed 2016’s record high,” Association of Interior Realtors president Kim Heizmann said in a news release issued today, Jan. 5. “The lack of supply continues to be a challenge for buyers as inventory lags behind demand.”
The release did not list the number of total sales for the year in the region it covers which includes the Shuswap, Revelstoke, west to Manning Park and the South Peace, in addition to the Okanagan.
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The association uses a benchmark price to represent the typical home that sells each month.
For December, that was $1,004,900 for a single-family house in the Central Okanagan, up 31.8% from a year earlier. The average price for single-family houses broke the $1 million barrier in the region in July but this is the first time the benchmark price exceeded $1 million.
The benchmark price in the South Okanagan was $714,700, up 43.3% from last year. In the North Okanagan, the benchmark hit $709,400, up 30.3% from a year earlier.
The price of condos didn’t grow quite as dramatically but was not far behind.
READ MORE: Real estate board says Metro Vancouver home sales hit record in 2021
The benchmark price for a condo in the Central Okanagan was up 27.9% to $511,700, up 24% to $380,000 in the South Okanagan and up 29.7% to $323,300 in the North Okanagan.
In the Shuswap/Revelstoke region single-family homes rose $28.9% in price to $649,500, and condos were up 27.2% to $412,900.
The number of active listings was down 40% from December 2020.
“The number of active listings continues to fall short of buyer’s demand at historical levels, making it unlikely for buyers to see a softening on prices as we head into the new year,” Heizmann said in the release.
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