HIGGINS REPORT ON THE MARKET....

 HOW’S THE MARKET?

Kelowna, BC – We anticipate that newly released HST Transitional Rules, continued low interest rates and abundant supply will spur the market in 2012 as first-time home buyers, new home buyers and investors take advantage of bonus’s and increased rebate thresholds for new homes.

HST HIGHLIGHTS:
· The First-Time Home New Home Buyer’s Bonus – 5% OF THE PURCHASE PRICE UP TO MAXIMUM OF $10,000
· The B.C. new housing rebate threshold will be increased to $850,000, effective April 1st with a maximum rebate of $42,000
· New homes where construction begins before April 1, 2013 and possession occurs after, buyers will not pay the 7% provincial portion of the HST but rather a Transitional Tax of 2% plus GST.
· Enhanced New Rental Housing Rebate to support the construction or substantial renovation of affordable rental housing.

RE/MAX Kelowna has had a brisk start to the year, writing 28% more transactions year to date than in 2011. We are monitoring the trend of investors making real estate their investment vehicle
of choice which is evidenced in OMREB’S January Buyer’s Survey which reported that investors made up 16.6% of all of our Buyers in the month of January, which is up considerably over previous year’s numbers.
The Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board (OMREB) reported February 2012 sales activity of all MLS® property types improved over the same month last year as the housing market continues on a moderate but steady upward trend.
“February home sales remained strong in the Okanagan-Shuswap, and on par with the 10-15 year average for unit sales,”says Rob Shaw, OMREB Vice President. “The trend in modest rising sales over the past few months is in line with the gradual growth in the economy and indicates market improvement.
Province-wide, prices are staying relatively flat and holding steady in most segments in our Board area.”
Overall sales in the Central Zone for the month rose 16% to 289 units ($100.4million) compared to 249 ($95.5 million) in February 2011, and improved by 58.0% over the units sold last month (183). Total residential sales for February were up 11.4% to 263 units compared to 236 sold last year, and jumped 39.2% from 189 in January. Single family home sales (130 units) remained similar to last February (129), but climbed 27.5% compared to last month (102). Townhouse sales in February showed a 113% improvement over 2011 (to 49 from 23), and were up 96% from units sold in January (25). While inventory for the month (4,500) units was up 1.4% over 4,437 in 2011, the 954 new listings for February dropped 6.7% from the 1,022 last year at this time.
Values range from property to property depending on location, condition, inventory and other factors. Contact Me for your Housing Check-Up today!