Home prices continue to rise in hot Okanagan real estate market
Compared to the same time last year, housing sales across the Okanagan were up in some areas by as much as 562 per cent.
That said, this time last year B.C. was in lockdown and nobody was going anywhere, let alone opening their doors for prospective home buyers.
The Association of Interior Realtors released the April 2021 summary statistics which, while not a realistic view of all the changes in the market, do offer insight into what’s happening today and how much things have changed.
Of note, Central Okanagan sales of single-family homes reached 398 this April, which is up 294 per cent from the same time last year. Benchmark price — which estimates the value of a home-based on features commonly found in a particular community using extensive sales data — has risen to $880,000 which is 31.3 per cent more than last year. Also, there are 450 houses on the market now, which is down 52 per cent from last year.
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In the North Okanagan it’s a similar situation, with 177 single family home sales in April, which is a 342 per cent rise from the same time last year. The benchmark price was $617,100 in April, which is up by 27 per cent.
In the Shuswap-Revelstoke area, there were 62 single-family sales which was a rise of 416 per cent rise from this time last year. The benchmark price rose by 25 per cent to $546,500.
In the South Okanagan, there were 139 single family home sales this April, which is a rise of 348 per cent from last year. The benchmark price is now $489,000, up by 18.9 per cent.
“We can’t look at the data as we normally would as this time last year we were in the thick of our first lockdown due to the pandemic,” Interior Realtors president Kim Heizmann said in a press release. “What we can look at is what is currently happening and currently supply is still not catching up to demand. We are in a supply drought when it comes to listings.”
The total number of active residential listings remained low for April with only 2,818 across the association region.
The benchmark price for townhouses and condos in the Central Okanagan, North Okanagan, South Okanagan and Shuswap-Revelstoke regions also saw double-digit percentage increases in year-over-year comparisons. The recently introduced benchmark pricing for the South Okanagan also showed double-digit percentage increases in townhomes with the condo sub-category showing single digit percentage increases.
The Association of Interior realtors was formed on Jan. 1, through the amalgamation of the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board and the South Okanagan Real Estate Board.
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