Benchmark house price reaches $1 million in the Central Okanagan

The benchmark price for a home in B.C.’s Central Okanagan surpassed $1 million during the final month of a record-breaking year of sales.

The Central Okanagan benchmark price for a single detached home was $1,004,900 in December, up 31.8 per cent from a year ago.

In the North Okanagan, the December benchmark price was up 30.3 per cent reaching $709,400. while in the Shuswap/Revelstoke regions, the benchmark price rose by 28.9 per cent to $649,500.

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Similar increases were seen in condos and townhouses as well.

The Central Okanagan benchmark price is now not far off Metro Vancouver’s. For all residential properties, the benchmark price increased 17.3 per cent from the prior year to $1.23 million.

While prices were on the rise the number of houses sold started to decline in December.

Residential sales for the entire Association region for December 2021 saw a downtick of 25 per cent over December 2020, clocking in at 654 units sold while still surpassing the previously recorded historical high.

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“Even with a typical seasonal slowdown, sales across the region surpassed 2016’s record high,” Association of Interior Realtors President Kim Heizmann said in a press release.

He also said “the lack of supply continues to be a challenge for buyers as inventory lags behind demand.”

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The supply of active residential listings saw a drop of 40 per cent across the association region compared to the 2,894 active listings during December 2020, with new listings also showing a 24 per cent decrease from those of December 2020.

The dearth of listings makes it unlikely for buyers to see a softening on prices in the new year, he said.

The association said it uses benchmark pricing, rather than averages or medians, because it’s less misleading than the other two measures. It represents dwellings with typical attributes to those traded in the area.