Mark Walker is a real estate agent and the broker/owner of Kelowna’s Walker Real Estate.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED

OPINION

Are you ready to ‘spring ahead’ this weekend? I sure am! There’s beauty to every season in Kelowna, but I’m absolutely ready for the warmer temperatures.

So, how’s our real estate market doing - is it getting warmer too?

The latest Kelowna real estate market stats from OMREB covering February 2018, show that inventory for single-family homes is up substantially. However, when comparing February 2018 to the same month of 2017, sales in that segment of the market were down quite significantly by 27.37 per cent.

Conversely, Kelowna Condos enjoyed a stronger sales record in February 2018 with an increase of 33.73 per cent over 2017.

As readers of this column will know, I have a close eye on the new Speculation Tax introduced by the NDP government. I’m already starting to list properties from investors who live outside of the province in response to the new government measures.

One of the most challenging aspects for me, is that most of the folks who are going to be punished by this tax are not ‘speculators’, but investors who make a significant economic contribution to our region and our province.

It’s important to keep in mind that if it wasn’t for our out of town visitors and homeowners, our city would not have nearly the amount of high-quality amenities we currently enjoy.

I’m not saying something doesn’t need to be done to create more access to housing, but I do not believe the NDP government’s Speculation Tax is the answer.

These latest round of stats come to soon to draw any parallels between the provincial government’s announcement and the figures. However, we’ll continue to keep a close eye on any developments.

The market will undoubtedly warm up with the rising temperatures. February’s year-to-year figures show a slight increase of six per cent in the number of properties going up for sale - when comparing Feb 2017 to Feb 2018.

Kelowna real estate prices also continue to rise when comparing February 2017 to 2018. For example, the average price of a residential property in Kelowna, including condos, townhomes, and mobile homes, was $534,067. That’s a small increase of 1.41 per cent from February 2017’s figure of $526,634.

Part of the beauty of real estate is that it is ever changing. As a vastly experienced Realtor, investor and real estate business owner, I have seen it all over the years. In this kind of market, I believe it is of even greater importance to engage a top-notch agent.

If you have any questions about the Kelowna real estate market, please feel free to contact me at 250-764-4344. It would be my pleasure to answer any questions that you might have.

— Mark Walker is a real estate agent and the broker/owner of Kelowna’s Walker Real Estate. His company runs the website KelownaProperties.com - Kelowna’s most comprehensive real estate search tool - and KelownaCondos - your source for all you need to know about condos in Kelowna.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor.

News from © iNFOnews, 2018