KIM HEIZMANN
KELOWNA –Residential sales for November across the region of Revelstoke to Peachland beat out November 2019’s sales by 71 per cent, while clocking in 15 per cent less over October’s 1,062, reports the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board (OMREB).
New residential listings fell from 1,057 last month to 768 new listings yet surpassed last year’s 730 new listings by 5 per cent. The supply of homes for sale, or overall active listings, is still struggling to meet the high demand dropping 19 per cent compared to October’s inventory of 2,787 and 30 per cent lower than November 2019’s active listings.
“We continue to see high residential housing demand despite a mild seasonal slowdown generally seen during this time of year,” says OMREB President Kim Heizmann, adding that “it’s typical for market conditions to cool as the weather cools, yet that, much like everything else this year, hasn’t happened.”
“Looking at the numbers we can see that consumer demand is not being met due to record low listings, which creates upward pressure on pricing. Essentially, the demand is so high that it is difficult for inventory to build up.”
The average number of days to sell a home, always a good barometer to watch, went up 7 per cent to 88 days in November. 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 subregion.