For the first time since the end of last year, the benchmark price of a single-family home in the Central Okanagan fell below the $1 million mark, a welcome sign for buyers.
“It is certainly a good thing for people that are looking to get into the market or looking to move in the market, it means that we’re seeing a decrease in the demand, less buyers means less pressure in the market,” said Lyndi Cruickshank the president of Association of Interior Realtors (AIR).
This month, the benchmark price for a single-family home in the Central Okanagan is $981,800, in the North Okanagan it’s $731,800, $693,500 in Shuswap/Revelstoke and $779,500 in the South Okanagan – according to a report from the Association of Interior Realtors.
The North Okanagan has seen a drastic increase in the prices of townhomes for the second consecutive month, up 25.9 per cent from last September.
Buyers won’t be seeing much of a change in these prices anytime soon, even with the slight decline in demand.
“We’re expecting that we might see a settling out of the pricing, but we’re not expecting them to come down significantly,” said Cruickshank.
According to the AIR inventory, levels have been climbing, but it’s still not where it needs to be to move into a balanced market, as demand is still outpacing the housing supply. However, the AIR believes this still gives buyers more options than they had earlier this year.
“With the increased number of homes sitting on the market and the buying pressures starting to release a little it’s actually a great market for buyers and sellers because now the person that’s selling, they actually have the opportunity to, they have more choice in what they’re looking for,” said Cruickshank.
In the interior, the association is seeing a 37.3% decrease in residential unit sales compared to the number of units sold this time last year.