Penticton may be the next Okanagan hot spot
With thousands of people pouring into the Central Okanagan each year it’s easy to forget that Penticton is becoming an increasingly desirable place to live.
“There’s been a lot of conversation over the last couple of years regarding Penticton being the next Okanagan hot spot,” Lyndi Cruickshank, founder of Engel and Völkers South Okanagan Real Estate, told iNFOnews.ca. “Just hearing how some of the developers and others are rationalizing their visioning, it certainly makes sense.”
There are massive amounts of new housing developments already approved or proposed for the city.
That includes the North Gateway area where 2,200 new homes are expected, with almost one-third of them already in the pipeline.
READ MORE: Hundreds of new homes on the way to Penticton
The 686-unit Wiltse Flats subdivision on the city’s east site promises a mix of single-family, multi-family and duplex units.
READ MORE: Massive Penticton subdivision on sale for $27 million before it’s even approved
And a new proposal for up to 1,500 new homes across from Penticton Regional Hospital is going out for public feedback this summer.
That totals about 4,400 homes in just those three areas.
“What Kelowna is now is very different than what Kelowna was many years ago and, while it’s filling a fantastic need for many people, the changes in Kelowna have left some looking for more of what the Okanagan used to be,” Cruickshank, who is the former president of the South Okanagan Real Estate Association, said. “That’s really what Penticton remains.”
Despite all the proposed new housing, Penticton is limited in its land base by something that also makes it unique – being bounded by lakes to the north and south.
“I don’t think Penticton will be the next 'Little Kelowna' because we don’t have a corporate business base the same way that Kelowna does so the people who move to Penticton, or who are investing into Penticton, are looking for something different,” Cruickshank said. “They’re looking for a more peaceful relaxed lifestyle. They’re looking for less busy. We also do attract many people who are looking for secondary homes, which is far more difficult in the Kelowna area because of the vacancy tax.”
There’s a good mix of young families, retirees and, especially since COVID, people who can work from home.
And, it is changing with the times.
“If you go back 10 years and look at the homes in what we would have called then the higher price range, they weren’t new,” Cruickshank said. “They weren’t modern. We didn’t have the broad range of higher end homes that we do now.
“So, somebody that was in that higher price range 10 years ago was more likely to look at a view lot and build a home. Now there are a number of homes that are more likely to fill their needs. We’ve seen a shift in developers focusing on that higher end of the market that didn’t exist here before.”
Penthouses in one building that was finished last year sold for $2.8 million, or $1,000 per square foot.
But Penticton is still substantially cheaper than Kelowna when it comes to housing.
An average single-family home sold for almost $806,000 in the South Okanagan in May, more than $307,000 less than Central Okanagan. Townhomes were about $174,000 less and condos $91,500 less.
The interest is also shifting south to communities like Oliver, Okanagan Falls and Osoyoos, Cruickshank said, pointing to a new townhouse development in Okanagan Falls that’s attracting young families.
Lemonade Lane is a cluster of 40 townhomes next to Okanagan River, offering two or three-bedroom units at 1,320-2,025 square feet. Sales for Phase III have homes starting at $595,000.
It’s only 15 minutes from Penticton but a commute may not be necessary for young families. There’s the new 110-acre Avery Industrial Park under development on the site of the former Weyerhaeuser mill that is looking to attract major employers.
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