Okanagan home prices continue to rise, while market sees small increase in inventory

The price of homes in the Okanagan continued its upward trajectory in September.

However, experts say the housing market is showing signs of normal seasonal activity.

“What we normally see is a few listings come on in the fall market. Vacations have happened, kids are back at school, and a lot of families decide they want to put their house on the market and possibly sell and be in a new house by Christmas,” said Association of Interior Realtor’s president Kim Heizmann.

“We have seen a little bit of a blip of activity in the fall and have seen a slight increase of new listings come on.”

Inventory continues to be the driving force for rising prices. Despite the small increase in the number of listings, demand is still causing the market prices to rise.

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“We do think there is an imbalance because the low inventory is so low. Its making us think the buyer demand is so huge,” said Heizmann.

“But, the buyer demand seems to be slightly above normal but not extremely high. What is extreme is the low inventory which is causing that imbalance.”

The monthly real estate summaries published by the Association of Interior Realtors compares statistics to last year, and with the extreme record-breaking numbers seen in 2020 due to the pandemic, it may not be a great comparison.

“It’s really hard to compare to the pandemic year; it was such a unique situation. It’s challenging to figure out from the statistics whether we are going to continue on this trend or not,” said Heizmann.

The benchmark price for a single-family home in the Central Okanagan is now listed at $923,500, a 27-per cent increase from one year ago.

The benchmark price in the North Okanagan for single family homes is now $687,000, a 31-per cent increase.

And for the South Okanagan, the benchmark price now sits at $675,000, an increase of 37 per cent from 2020.

According to the Association of Interior Realtors, the market is expectedly to remain relatively the same unless inventory dramatically changes.

Real estate in the Okanagan continues to be a strong seller’s market.

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