Cost of borrowing stifling housing sales: Realtors

Home sales saw significant drops in the Okanagan last month which industry analysts are blaming on high interest rates.

There were 99 residential units sold in the North Okanagan in September, down 17.5 per cent from the same month in 2022.

The Central Okanagan saw 264 homes sold, a decrease of 20.5 per cent.

“Typically the fall market starts to pick up momentum in September, however sales activity for the month suggests that the weight of high interest rates continues to bog down both buyers and sellers,” Association of Interior Realtors president Chelsea Mann said. “Many buyers and sellers have seemingly hit the brakes on their real estate efforts and have taken a wait-and-see approach hoping for the cost of borrowing to lighten.”

(Association of Interior Realtors image)

The benchmark price for a single family home (SFH) in the North Okanagan was $728,100 in September, a decrease of 1.6 per cent from a year earlier.

The Central Okanagan’s benchmark price for the same type of home was just over one million dollars ($1,006,300), which was an increase of 3 per cent.

The average time to sell a SFH in the Vernon area was 70 days, while it was 60 in the Kelowna area, both longer than September 2022.

(Association of Interior realtors image)

New residential listings in the AIR area increased 14.6 per cent compared to September 2022 with 2,384 new listings recorded.

“The market slowdown does not however mean that there aren’t still deals being made. Homes that are priced appropriately to reflect current market conditions are still being sold at an even pace,” Mann added.