March was Marching Right Along.

 Well, what a week and month it has been. It feels like we are starting April off just like last year with restaurant dine-in stopping for a while,but I do not want to go down that path with this email so let’s look at the positives of the past year. One of the main things that I have noticed is the amount of time families are spending together.We see it in our neighborhood every day. Families out for a bike ride, a walk or skating on Green Bay when it froze over this winter. It’s nice to see kids having some quality time with their parents. With the changes to the restaurant business this week hopefully everyone can help those businesses survive by doing a few more takeout dinners over the next 3 to 4 weeks. We all want those businesses to be open again. 

What has the real estate market been up to over the last 31 days? The market is continuing to be fueled by people moving to our community and first-time buyers entering the market. Every sector of our real estate market is up again this month except for days-on-market which are down by 47% to 33 days on average. The average price of a single-family home has increased to $967,452 this is a 34.74% increase from just a year ago. One of the most amazing stats to me is the number of homes priced over a million dollars selling this year compared to last March. We had 232 homes over a million dollars sell this month compared to 42 just a year ago.This is part of the reason that the average house price has increased as much as it has. 

Looking to buy or sell please give me a call.

Hope you all had a great Easter Weekend.

September Real Estate Review.

 The real estate business just keeps on churning out deals. An unusual year, to say the least! The good weather we are having is certainly helping but who would have expected the current level of activity through the summer and continuing into October?

Low inventory seems to be one big factor, low interest rates is another, but beyond that, it becomes a guessing game. Local buyers are certainly active but we are seeing unusual numbers of Canadians from places outside of the valley buying property - in town and at Big White. The questions are, how long will this continue and what will 2021 bring?

We have had years where the market remained active right through the winter. Is this going to happen again? Because nothing happening recently was forecast and the influence factors are so varied right now there is no way to predict the future with any confidence.

With that in mind, lets look at what the numbers for September tell us. “Hold on to your seats!”

• Total units for all residential sales in September rose by 83% compared to September last year. Astounding! This rise was fairly consistent through all categories from SFD, Condos, townhouses and lots. • Average house prices rose significantly year-over year but the percentage increase doesn’t reflect the change in price of an individual home. Why? The number of sales of homes over $1M has jumped by over 104% which throws the average off. The median price is more realistic right now and it rose by 11% for September. Still significant.

• News listings in September are up by 18% compared to last September.

• The Days on Market is essentially unchanged at 66 days.

If  you have questions, call me. I can provide you specific facts on homes and properties that might affect you and your decisions. 

April Market Report.

How many of you felt like April was something like 287 days long? I know I sure felt it was. There were many quips like that on Facebook recently with lots of “LOL's . At times this does seem to be endless but as Dr. Bonnie Henry says, “It’s not forever but it is for now!” Are you feeling overloaded with news and reports about Covid-19? 

Let’s talk about some of the good things happening for a change. Are you spending less money on gas? Are your pets happier? Are you reading more? How about getting some fresh air, bike riding, walks or hikes? Time with your loved ones? In “normal” times it seems we spend too much money or find it challenging to find time for enjoyable pursuits. With some optimism on the horizon, this is a good time to make the most of the extra time right now and enjoy it. Yes, there are financial challenges, but we will come out of this. Let’s do our best to enjoy what we can and remember the good parts when this is all over.

Real estate! It’s a bit like the weather. Everyone likes to talk about it and most people have an opinion. It will come as no surprise to most of you that after a strong March, April was much slower this year. Sales are certainly down but they have not halted, by any measure. There are still people who need to sell and others who need to buy. This is the reason real estate is an essential service.

The good news is, there are fewer “tire-kicker” buyers and sellers. Those that are participating in this market tend to be very serious. Interestingly, new listings usually outstrip buyers at this time of year but the opposite is true right now. With fewer listings and serious buyers stepping up, prices actually rose by over 2.0% compared to April of last year.

The month ahead should be an interesting one. If, as predicted, the Provincial Government begins to lift some of the restrictions affecting the economy and people take small steps towards greater interaction, shopping, eating out and more, we believe real estate sellers and buyers will also begin to get more active too.

For everyone’s sake, a slow and steady opening of the economy will be best, but just knowing we are on that path will give everyone a shot of optimism. We anticipate the numbers for May will be up from April. 

January 2020 Market Report.

What a way to be welcomed into February. A warm and rainy start thanks to a pineapple express that is making its way through the Okanagan. I have to say it’s better than the bone chilling start to February that we had last year. January has been quite the month, even though we seemed to have snow piling up everyday the real estate market continued to be busy and show signs of improvement.

Two notable things that have happened over the past few months are; inventories are down, and average and median single-family home prices are up. Good news for those wanting to sell.

Central Okanagan Inventories on all listing types have seen a cumulative decrease in January 2020 from 787 new listings in January 2019, to 655 new listings in January 2020, a decrease of 16.77 % year over year.

The average single-family home price in Kelowna for January 2019 was $688,886 and increased 5.15% to $724,367 in January 2020. The median price saw a similar increase from $642,500 in January 2019 to $674,450 in January 2020, an increase of 4.97%.

A couple of interesting stats to note are days on market and list to sell ratio. Central Okanagan Days on market for single family homes have risen for January from 77 days last year, to 84 days this year, an increase of 10.05% year over year. While in contrast, days on market for condos and townhomes have decreased dramatically in January 2020 compared to January 2019. The decrease for townhomes sales was 86 days to 68 days, a decrease of 21.14%, while condos saw a decrease from 78 days to 67 days, a decrease of 14.14%. The list to sell ratio of all unit types when comparing Jan 2020 to Jan 2019 remained constant with very little deviation from 96% mark.

I feel that these two stats show that we are continuing into a nice balanced market with homes that are well priced and in great condition attracting attention from ready and willing buyers. All in all, and with the above in mind, I believe the central Okanagan continues to be a place that everyone from the rest of Canada wants to call home. I hope you enjoy the longer and warmer days as we make our way into spring!

August Market Report

Its hard to believe that the kids have been back to school for a week already! I’m not sure who has had the biggest smiles this week on Facebook, the kids or the parents. I believe it’s the parents. As a reminder, please make sure you pay attention to those school zone speed limits, you don't want a ticket.

At RE/MAX Kelowna we had a great summer. Along with all the summer activities, we had the pleasure of being the Title Sponsors of the Parks Alive in Kelowna and Music in the Park in West Kelowna. We got to help these two great organizations put on over 50 free concerts throughout Kelowna and West Kelowna this summer. We look forward to many more summers enjoying these great concerts. If you didn’t have a chance to see them or didn’t know about these free concerts, “like” our RE/MAX Facebook page so you don’t miss out next year.

One of the amazing things about the agents that work in our office is their generosity. I have mentioned in the past about the RE/MAX Realtors Legacy Foundation of the Central Okanagan. This foundation was started by the agents of RE/MAX Kelowna and West Kelowna. This year we were able to provide a $5,000 donation to the YMCA kids programs and a $20,000 donation to JoeAnna’s House. It was such an honour for RE/MAX to be part of helping build JoeAnna’s House.

As the Real Estate market changes, we are starting to see interesting swings in the stats, published by the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board. As the number of home sales continue to decrease and a more normal and stable market begins to emerge it becomes more and more important to deal with a full time professional agent who have the experience to truly understand these changing market conditions. Call me if you would like to talk about the market.

Stat Comparison      AUGUST 2017 vs. AUGUST 2018

Number of Sales by Month;       2017                        2018 

                                                    591                          449

Number of Sales Year to Date;  

                                                  2017                         2018   

                                                  4,673                        3,699                                            

Residential House Prices by Month;

                                                 2017                          2018                                                

Average                               $682,814                    $687,413

Median                                $648,000                    $640,500

Residential House Prices Year to Date; 

                                                 2017                           2018

Average                             $676,879                      $721,326

Median                               $624,950                      $668,950

Number of Units Listed;           

                                                 2017                            2018  

                                                   955                               993                                                                     

Days to Sell by Month - Residential ;

                                                 2017                         2018

                                                     46                             60

Days to Sell Year to Date - Residential; 

                                                 2017                          2018

                                                     47                              52

Single Family Sales by PriceYear to Date AUG 2018

Price Range                  2017                   2018

$0 - $239,999                     7                         7

$240,000 - $319,999         28                      22

$320,000 - $399,999         95                      71

$400,000 - $479,999        252                    168

$480,000 - $559,999        494                    374

$560,000 - $999,999      1,975                 2,275

$1,000,000 and Over        451                     638

Active Inventory Central Okanagan - AUG 2018

Residential       1,265

Condo                 554

Mobiles                 39

Lots                     416

Townhomes         359

How's the Market you Ask!

For most people in Kelowna, West Kelowna, and Lake Country, the first true sign of Spring is not the first robin we see but the street sweepers and they are at least 3 weeks behind! Now hopefully the rain has stopped we can wash our cars and they will stay clean for a few days. Seeing a bit more sunshine doesn’t hurt as well. It feels like we are finally exiting a longer than normal, winter hibernation. We’re all glad to be looking forward to our usual sunny warm days ahead.

Speaking of things to look forward to, the market continues to be active however, it is shifting in interesting ways. Check out the numbers below and note that sales are a virtual dead heat from last year; prices are up, and days to sell are down. Also, for prices under $560,000 sales are down noticeably but sales over this $560,000 mark are up 43% and over the $1M price, up 22% from March of 2016 to make up for the drop elsewhere.

If you are presently selling or trying to buy, these numbers come as no surprise. This is a Seller’s market and has been for some time. The nice thing about this time of year is that more listings come onto the market every day.

Here are some numbers for March 2017:

                                                         2016                2017
March Solds                                       635                 637
YTD Sold                                        1,317              1,313
Res. Prices-Mar. Avg                $566,762        $640,513   Up 13%
Res. Prices-Mar. Median           $518,000        $598,500   Up 15.5%
New Listings-Mar.                           1,130             1,069
Days to Sell                                          57                  45


Average Prices for Mar. 2017

Homes                         $640,513
Townhomes                $453,619
Condos                        $349,506
Lots                             $275,470

October Market Report

The month of October felt like a wet blanket was laid over the entire valley! However, the damp weather didn’t seem to dampen the real estate market. Our market continues to show its typical downward trend as we head into winter, but sales showed a year over year increase of 29.51%.

Here are some of the highlights:

Listing inventories increased slightly. Listings were 699 for the month of October this year compared to 644 for October 2015, an 8.54% year over year increase. 

Sales are still increasing year over year, but the percentages are tightening up as we move into the fall/winter market. Sales were only up 10.67% in October - to 529 in 2016 from 478 sales in 2015.

House prices are up - The price of a single-family home in October 2016 was $613,148 compared to $524,974 in October 2015, an increase of 16.8%.

Houses are selling faster - The average number of days on the market for residential properties has decreased to 50 days in October 2016 from 67 days in October 2015. There continues to be talk in the media about the house prices in Canada and the need to cool down overheated markets although most of the country isn’t experiencing what Toronto is and what Vancouver once was experiencing. On a bright note for Kelowna, the new CHMC Housing Market Outlook just released, shines a very steady light on Kelowna.

The report is reinforcing what we are seeing, that the Kelowna market will continue to see moderate but steady growth for 2017 and 2018.

Here are a couple of highlights from the report: 

A significant increase in multiple-family housing starts along with steady construction of single-detached homes will result in a higher number of total housing starts in 2016 with some moderation in 2017 and 2018.

MLS sales will end the year at a new record level followed by some moderation over the forecast horizon. MLS average prices are expected to increase significantly in 2017, partially as a result of a shift towards more high-end sales, followed by more modest gains through 2018.

Population growth is expected to remain steady while employment is expected to pick up, supporting housing demand. As I feel we live in one of the best cities in Canada, we can expect a continued interest in Kelowna and our real estate market.

June's Market Report

The British Columbia Real Estate Association reports that a record 12,906 residential unit sales were recorded by MLS in June, up 14.3 per cent from the same month last year. The total sales dollar volume was $8.97 billion in June, up 25.7 per cent compared to last year. The average MLS residential price in the province was up 10 per cent year-over-year, to $694,925

With the robust housing demand in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and the Okanagan drove the sales growth up in June and at the same time, the inventory of homes for sale continues to slide lower creating  very tight market conditions around the province. The supply of resale homes is remarkably low across BC particularly so in Victoria, the Fraser Valley and here in Kelowna in certain price ranges it is very hard to find homes. What little that there is on the market in the $300,000-$550,000.00 price range is gone right away if it is priced right.  

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume increased 53.2 per cent to $49.9 billion, as  compared with the same period in 2015. Residential unit sales climbed by 30.6 per cent to 67,361 units, while the average MLS residential price was up 17.3 per cent to $741,150.

BC's Market is Hot!

The British Columbia Real Estate Association is reporting that a record 13,458 residential unit sales were recorded by the MLS in May, up 32.3 per cent from the same month last year. Home sales last month have exceeded April's record of 12,969 units. Total sales dollar volume was $9.72 billion in May, up 51.1 per cent compared to the previous year.

The average MLS residential price in the province was up 14.2 per cent year-over-year, to $722,146. We have to take in account that Vancouver is driving this. Record housing demand and dwindling inventories are continuing to push home prices higher in most BC regions. With total active residential listings across the province are nearly 30 per cent lower than twelve months ago. New home construction activity is at a near record pace in the province. In the Metro Vancouver market, a record number of homes are now under construction. Once the current crop of homes are ready for occupancy there will likely be more selection for home buyers and less upward pressure on home prices.

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume has increased 62 per cent to $41 billion, when compared with the same period in 2015. Residential unit sales climbed by 35.2 per cent to 54,455 units, while the average MLS residential price was up 19 per cent to $752,105.00

Kelowna's Market.

So, how’s the market? This is the question I get asked more than any other! The quick answer is, it’s very BUSY or at least it has been for me. But this question actually has two answers and it depends whether you’re a buyer or a seller.

Sellers, of course, are ecstatic because when they make the decision to sell their home, it is not a 4 or 5-month process of home showings and waiting for that all elusive showing appointment or offer. Sellers are seeing an almost immediate response when they list their homes, especially if the price is below $650,000. Some are selling the first day on the market with multiple offers.

Buyers, on the other hand, are finding it a little more challenging to get the perfect home. With lower than normal inventory levels and higher demand for listings, buyers who aren’t working with a professional agent, that is full time and on top of the current market, don’t even get the opportunity to act on a property before it’s gone.

Here are some of the market highlights:

• Residential listing inventories are down - listing inventories decreased by just .5 % from May 2015 to May 2016 and by 2.44% year to-date compared to 2015.

• Residential sales are up - way up! - Sales increased by a whopping 42.73% from May 2015 compared to May 2016 and a 30.98%

increase year to-date over 2015.

• Average house prices are up! – the price of a single family home in May 2016 was up by 19.23% compared to $504,262 in May 2015.

• Residential properties are selling faster – the average number of days on the market has decreased to 53 days in May 2016 from 71 days in May 2015.

Buyer gridlock, a term that refers to a situation where sellers are hesitant to list their properties for sale because of a lack of inventory or affordable options to move to when their home sells. As a result, they are staying where they are and making it work and that’s limiting the number of entry level options for buyers who are trying to get into the market. We are starting to hear sellers voicing this concern in the Okanagan.

As this starts to become a reality, it will lower inventories further making it more difficult to find the perfect home. This has been an issue in Toronto and Vancouver markets for some time, but as sales continue to increase and inventories remain low in the Okanagan, we expect to see more of this creeping into our market.

Now is the Time to Buy as Prices are going UP!

The British Columbia Real Estate Association reports that a record number of  residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service in April, there were 12,969 that is up 30.3 per cent from the same month last year. Home sales last month beat March’s record of 12,560 units. Total sales dollar volume was $9.64 billion in April, up 52.7 per cent compared to the previous year. The average MLS  residential price in the province was up 17.2 per cent year-over-year, to $743,640. The housing demand has been exceptionally strong across the southern regions of the province. Who doesn't want to live in the sunny Okanagan!! The consumers appear to be particularly active in the Thompson/Okanagan, the Vancouver Island, and the Fraser Valley regions.

Strong employment growth is helping boost the consumer confidence. The BC economy has employed more than 78,000 additional workers during the first four months of the year, that is an increase of 3.5 per cent compared to the same period last year. The year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume increased 64.3 per cent to $31.2 billion, when compared with the same period in 2015. Residential unit sales climbed by 36.2 per cent to 28,028 units, while the average MLS residential price was up 20.6 per cent to $761,860.

2016 Off to a Good Start

The British Columbia Real Estate Association has reported that a total of 5,831 residential unit sales were recorded by MLS last month, that is up 33.2 per cent from January of last year. Total sales dollar volume was $4.39 billion in January, up 69.1 per cent compared to the previous year.

The average MLS residential price in the province of BC was up 26.9 per cent year-over-year, to $752,906. The BC housing market is continuing to build on momentum from a very strong 2015 with the majority of it coming from Vancouver. Heightened demand is being met with the lowest level of supply in a decade, resulting in increased pressure on prices in much of the province. 

The housing market has seen a roaring start to 2016, with housing demand supported by low mortgage rates and rising employment and wage growth in the province. However, MLS residential sales are forecast to edge lower this year. Total MLS sales last year were the third highest on record at 102,517. A record 106,310 residential unit sales were recorded in 2005, while the only other year passing 2016 was  2007 when 102,805 unit sales were recorded.

2016 First Quarter Housing Forecast Update

The British Columbia Real Estate Association has released 2016 First Quarter Housing Forecast Update the other day. The Multiple Listing Service residential sales in the province look like they may have a slight turn back 6.2 per cent to 96,100 units this year, after reaching 102,517 units in 2015. Strong consumer demand is expected to push MLS residential sales up by 2 per cent to 98,000 units in 2017.

Housing demand in the province is being supported by a relatively robust economy, leading to strong employment growth and rising wages. In addition, with net inter-provincial migration on an upswing as many Albertans look to BC for job opportunities. BC home sales are forecast to remain well above the ten-year average of 83,200 units over the next two years.

The inventory of homes for sale is now at its lowest level in almost a decade. Fewer homes for sale and strong consumer demand are expected to push home prices higher in most BC regions this year and in 2017. The average MLS residential price in the province is projected to increase 6.4 per cent to $677,200 this year and a further 4.1 per cent to $705,300 in 2017. All good news for those selling their homes!

New home construction activity is expected to remain at elevated levels corresponding to strong consumer demand and relatively low inventories, particularly on the South Coast.  Total housing starts in the province are forecast to remain close to an annual pace of 30,000 units through 2017, which will be the strongest two year performance since the 2007-2008 period.