KELOWNA – The Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board (OMREB) reported sales activity of all MLS® property types in September 2015 remained strong despite cooling off slightly on the heels of a hot summer market.
“Most sectors in the Okanagan-Shuswap saw a very active summer,” said Christopher Miller, OMREB President and active REALTOR® in the Central Okanagan. “While housing demand in our Board area has slowed down over the last week or two, sales activity remains relatively strong and seems to be extending into fall.”
With BC being the economic growth leader among provinces and mortgage rates remaining at historical lows, high consumer confidence continues to bolster the demand for homes in the Okanagan-Shuswap and has kept pace with other markets in the province. “The inventory of homes for sale remains at low levels with essentially no significant upward momentum over the past few months,” Miller notes.
Within OMREB’s three diverse markets – Central Okanagan, North Okanagan, and Shuswap-Revelstoke areas – sales activity and prices, and supply and demand tends to vary among property types at different times and locations, with ups and downs experienced zone-by-zone and month-by-month.
“The Central Okanagan and Shuswap markets continue to strengthen and see an improvement year-to-date over last year. The North Okanagan outpaced these zones with a vigorous run up of sales activity in 2014 and also saw relatively strong sales activity during 2015 but has lagged behind last year’s pace,” Miller points out.
Board-wide (Peachland to Revelstoke): Overall sales of all property types reported in OMREB’s Board area during September 2015 dipped 9.7 percent compared to 2014 (to 785 units from 869) but rose 3.6 percent year-to-date (to 7,001 from 6,760).
Board-wide, total residential sales for the month slipped 8.5 percent over last year at this time (at 714 units from 780) while year-to-date sales improved by 5.4 percent compared to 2014 (to 6,407 units from 6,077).
Single family home sales across the board area were down 11.9 percent compared to September 2014 (to 355 from 403) while year-to-date sales were up 4.2 percent (at 3,361 from 3,226).
The average number of days to sell a single family home in September was at 94 days board-wide, compared to 99 days at this time last year. Year-to-date, homes are selling within 89 days compared to 104 days during the same period in 2014 (January through September).
The 1,301 new listings taken board-wide for the month were up 5.1 percent compared to the 1,238 listings posted in September 2014, while inventory (active listings) dipped slightly (0.1 percent) to 7,266 from 7,273 last year at this time.
Central Zone (Peachland to Lake Country): During September, overall sales of all property types in the Central Zone were down 10.5 percent with 495 units compared to 553 in 2014. Year-to-date sales activity improved by 6.7 percent compared to the same period last year (January through September) to 4,582 units from 4,294 in 2014.
Total residential sales for the month in the OMREB coverage area dipped by 8.2 percent at 461 units compared to 502 in 2014, but improved by 9.0 percent year-to-date (to 4,280 from 3,926). The sale of single family homes dropped 14.2 percent over last September (to 212 from 247) but rose 8.0 percent year-to-date (to 2,173 from 2,013).
Average days to sell a single family home in the Central Okanagan in September was down to 62 days compared to 69 in 2014, while days to sell year-to-date averaged 64 days compared to 73 during the same nine-month period last year.
The 871 new listings taken in the Central Okanagan during the month improved by 11.4 percent compared to 782 in 2014, while total inventory rose 2.0 percent to 3,604 units from 3,533 last September.
North Zone (Predator Ridge to Enderby): Overall property sales for September in the North Zone declined 7.0 percent to 173 units compared to 186 last year at this time. Sales activity year-to-date saw a 5.5 percent dip to 1,505 units compared to 1,592 during the first nine months of 2014.
Total residential sales were down 7.2 percent this past month to 155 units compared to 167 in 2014, and dipped 4.8 percent year-to-date (to 1,359 from 1,427). Single family home sales saw an 8.7 percent drop over last September (to 84 from 92) and slipped 8.9 percent year-to-date (to 750 from 823).
Average days to sell a single family home in the North Okanagan in September was at 76 days compared to 92 in 2014, while homes sold in 84 days on average year-to-date compared to 102 during the same period last year.
The 281 new listings taken for the month saw an 8.2 percent decline over the 2014 level of 306. Inventory for September dipped 0.4% to 2,142 from 2,151 in 2014.
Shuswap Zone (Salmon Arm to Revelstoke): In September, sales activity for all property types in the Shuswap-Revelstoke Zone declined by 10.8 percent over 2014 (at 116 units compared to 130) while the year-to-date sales were up 4.1 percent over the same nine-month period last year (at 907 units from 871).
Total residential unit sales for the month were down 11.7 percent compared to September 2014 (at 98 units from 111) but rose 6.1 percent year- to-date (to 768 from 724). The sale of single family homes slipped 7.8 percent (to 59 units from 64 last year) but improved by 12.3 percent year-to-date (to 438 from 390) compared to September 2014.
The average of 145 days to sell a single family home in the Shuswap during September was up compared to 138 in 2014, while homes have sold in 120 days on average year-to-date compared to 138 during the same time period last year.
The 146 new listings taken in the Zone dipped marginally (2.0 percent) compared to 149 in September 2014. Overall inventory was down 4.2 percent to 1,514 from 1,581 last year at this time.