Housing sales in Kamloops, Okanagan drop off as supply dries up
Buying homes in the Okanagan and Kamloops is a lot pricier this year and market selection has diminished.
This may be why sales volumes have decreased a fair bit.
“While sales are down compared to last month, this is likely due to lack of inventory coupled with normal seasonality of the real estate market,” Kim Heizmann, the Association of Interior Realtors President said in a press release. “There is a gap in active listings supply compared to the amount of demand that we are experiencing. It will be interesting to see if this gap between supply and demand will be lessened in the coming months."
In the Central Okanagan, single-family home sales were down in July year over year by 29.6% falling to 236 sales, the benchmark price was up 31% to $933,600 and it’s taking 30 days to sell. In the North Okanagan, sales are down 40.8% to 87 and benchmark prices were up 31.6% to $666,700. In the Shuswap/Revelstoke area sales were down 24.3% to 56 while benchmark prices were up 33% to $606,300.
Across the Okanagan, condos have seen more attention. The Central Okanagan saw sales rise by 18% to 177 units this July versus July 2020. The benchmark price rose 21.2% to $452,900. In the North Okanagan sales rose 16.7% to 21, and the benchmark price rose 23% to $285,000 and in the Shuswap/Revelstoke sales were up 62.5% to 13 units. The benchmark price rose 17.8% to $364,700.
The Kamloops and District Real Estate Association reports a total of 290 residential unit sales, which is down 12.6% from July 2020.
The average MLS residential price in the area was $555,784, up by approx. 19.5% from $464,784 recorded in the same month, last year. Total sales dollar volume in July stood at $161.1 million, a 4.5% rise over 2020, which was $154.3 million.
In the South Okanagan, where benchmark pricing is currently not available, average sale prices were also up double-digit percentages in year-over-year comparisons in all home categories. In the South Peace River Region, average sale prices increased for both mobile homes and condominiums yet decreased in the single-family home category compared to July 2020.
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