KELOWNA – Residential sales for July continued to climb with an increase of 38 per cent compared to June totaling 1,094 units across the region of Revelstoke to Peachland, up 35 per cent compared to this time last year, reports the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board (OMREB).
New residential listings remained the same as last month clocking in at 1,494 new listings yet saw an 18 per cent increase over the same time last year. The overall number of active listings however fell off 2 per cent over June’s inventory of 3,962 and remained 14 per cent lower compared to last year July’s inventory of 4,527.
“We are seeing a pent-up demand propped up by consumer’s desire for more space in the wake of the pandemic,” says OMREB President Kim Heizmann, adding that, “while this is not normal market activity, there is nothing typical about 2020.”
“It will be interesting to see whether this demand sustains through the rest of the year.” The average number of days to sell a home, always a good barometer to watch, saw a slight increase of 5 per cent to 89 days.
It is important to note that OMREB reports on all market statistics for the entire Board region and that the indicators will vary depending on home type and sub-region.