Home sales going in ‘positive direction’
Home sales in the Okanagan are still slower than last year, but they are picking up.
The Association of Interior Realtors (AIR) says a total of 831 residential unit sales were recorded across its region in February, an increase from the 555 sales in January, but a decrease of 46 per cent from the sales in February 2022.
In the North Okanagan, there were 95 residential sales in February and 262 in the Central Okanagan, which was down 36 and 53 per cent, respectively, from one year ago.
“The uptick in sales activity compared to the previous month suggests that we are heading in a positive direction,” Association president Lyndi Cruickshank said. “The overstimulated boom of the last few years, along with multiple mortgage rate hikes, made many buyers and sellers hesitant to make any moves.”
(Image credit: Association of Interior Realtors)New residential listings dropped 14.7 per cent within the region compared to February 2022 with 1,579 new listings recorded.
Cruickshank said overall inventory saw a healthy increase of 82 per cent with 5,213 units currently on the market at the end of February.
“As we have seen throughout the last few years, the lack of housing supply continues to limit buyer options and ultimately creates a continued tight hold on inventory,” Cruickshank noted. “Hopefully, the provincial government’s recently announced budget commitment for its refreshed housing strategy will help bring some much-needed new inventory to the market.”
The benchmark prices for single family homes were down, compared to February 2022, in all four markets of the AIR.
The North Okanagan was at $708,600 (down 9.2 per cent) while the Central Okanagan came in at $971,300 (down 14 per cent).
The highest percentage increase for townhomes and condos was for townhomes in the North Okanagan, coming in at $591,900, up 14.7 per cent compared to the same time last year.
(Image credit: Association of Interior Realtors)It’s taking an average of 79 days to sell a single family home in the North Okanagan and 61 days in the Kelowna area.