North Okanagan Real Estate Market Starts the Year Trending Upwards

Items of Note for January:

• Selling prices continue to bounce around but the overall trend the past year has been fairly flat with just a slight increase in pricing
• Median Selling Price was up 12% Year-over-Year while Average Selling Price was up 11% Year-over-Year; however both were down significantly from December.
• the Composite Benchmark Selling Price was up 5% Year-over-Year ($651,700 vs $618,700) and up slightly from December ($647,400). 
• North Okanagan sales show growing strength for the third month in a row - up 34% Year-over-Year (82 vs 61) which is just 10% below the 10 Year Average (91).  Keep in mind that January is typically the slowest month of the year for sales.
• Central Okanagan sales rebounding for fourth straight month - up 22% Year-over-Year (241 vs 197), which is only 6% below the 10 Year Average (257).
• British Columbia residential home sales for month of Jan up 6.4% Year-over-Year
• Bank of Canada dropped rates 0.25% on January 29, 2025. The current rate is 3%.  The next scheduled rate announcement is March 12.

Sales

North Okanagan Unit Sales were up 34% Year-over-Year (82 vs 61) and were only 10% below the 10 Year average (91).  

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North Okanagan Real Estate Market Show Signs Of Strengthening For Second Straight Month

Items of Note for December:

• Selling prices continue to bounce around but the overall trend the past year has been fairly flat
  • Median Selling Price and Average Selling Price up significantly from November; however December selling prices were fairly flat Year-over-Year.  Median Selling Price was up 3% Year-over-Year while Average Selling Price was down 3.4% Year-over-Year. 
  • the Composite Benchmark Selling Price was up Year-over-Year ($647,400 vs $637,900) but down from November ($671,500). 
  • North Okanagan's $705,000 Median Selling Price sets new all time record for any month and tops $700k for the first time ever. 
• North Okanagan sales continue to show growing strength - up 41% Year-over-Year (83 vs 59) which is just 14% below the 10 Year Average for Dec (96).
• Central Okanagan sales rebounding for third straight month - up 41% Year-over-Year (251 vs 178), which is just 12% below the 10 Year Average (284).
• British Columbia residential home sales for month of Dec up 24.7% Year-over-Year
• Bank of Canada next rate announcement January 29, 2025.

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Okanagan Real Estate Market Show Signs Of Strengthening For Second Straight Month

Items of Note for November:

• North Okanagan November sales see nice boost - up 17% Year-over-Year (118 vs 101) which is just 13% below the 10 Year Average for Nov (136).
• Prices remain fairly strong
  • while Median Selling Price and Average Selling Price were down significantly from October they still set all time highs for the month of November.
  • the Composite Benchmark Selling Price up Year-over-Year ($671,500 vs $635,900) and up from October ($651,000). 
• Central Okanagan sales rebounding for second straight month - up 30% Year-over-Year (298 vs 230).  While still 20% below the 10 Year Average (373) it is a marked improvement over what the Central Okanagan experienced for much of 2024.
• British Columbia residential home sales up 25.7% Year-over-Year
• Bank of Canada lowers overnight rate 50 basis points to 3.25%.

Sales

North Okanagan Unit Sales were up 17% Year-over-Year (118 vs 101) and were only 13% below the 10 Year average (136).  

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North Okanagan Sales Down Year-Over-Year but Sales Around BC Up.  Is the Market Starting to Turn Around?

North Okanagan Items of Note for October:

• North Okanagan sales still sluggish - down 7% Year-over-Year (129 vs 139) and 24% below the 10 Year Average for Oct (169).
• Prices remain fairly strong - Median Selling Price and Average Selling Price set all time highs for the month of October, although Benchmark Selling Price down slightly Year-over-Year. 
• Central Okanagan sales surge - up 39% Year-over-Year (365 vs 263) and only 16% below the 10 Year Average (435).

North Okanagan Items of Note for September:

• Sales still sluggish - despite being up 8% Year-over-Year (105 vs 97) sales are 35% below the 10 Year Average for Sept.
• Prices remain strong - Median Selling Price and Average Selling Price set all time highs for the month of September.  
• The North Okanagan market continues to be in a Balanced Market.

Sales

North Okanagan Unit Sales were up 8% Year-over-Year (105 vs 97) but were 35% below the 10 Year average (162).  If you recall last year the fires in West Kelowna and the Shuswap essentially shut down real estate for the month of September.  So while an 8% Year-over-Year increase in sales is positive, keep in mind that last September I mentioned that if we go back all the way to 2002 the only September with lower sales than 2023 was in 2008 (88).  

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Despite Lower Interest Rates Slow Sales Continue

North Okanagan Items of Note for August:

• Sales hit 10 year low for the month of August and finish the month 26% below the 10 Year Average (138 vs 186)  
• Average Selling Price up 13% Year-over-Year - spurred on by a strong month for homes selling in the $1,000,000+ price range. 
• The North Okanagan market continues to be in a Balanced Market.

Sales

North Okanagan Unit Sales were down 6% Year-over-Year (138 vs 146) and are 26% below the 10 Year average (186).  
It was also the lowest number of sales recorded for the month of Aug over the past 10 years.  

Median Sales Price

• Median Selling Price was $644,500 which is up 9% Year-over-Year ($592,500) and is up from July ($639,000).  

Average Sales Price

• Average Selling Price was $748,629 which is up a substantial 13% Year-over-Year ($664,813) and also up from July ($656,254).  

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Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

North Okanagan Items of Note for June:

• June Unit Sales slow after a solid May.  June's 170 Unit Sales are down 18% Year-over-Year and 21% below the 10-Year average.  
• Prices down from May.  After seeing record high Median and Average selling prices in May, prices in June take a tumble with Median Selling price down 9% from May and Average Selling price down 11% from May.  Benchmark Prices for all property types were down from May and down Year-over-Year as well.
• The North Okanagan market continues to be in a Balanced Market

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North Okanagan Market Continues To Improve

North Okanagan Items of Note for May:

• Unit Sales continue to rebound.  May's 183 sales is only 12% below the 10-Year average.   While sales were only up 3% Year-over-Year, the market has improved steadily since a very slow March. 
• Active Listings tops 1,000 for first time since Sept 2019.
• Prices continue to rise - the North Okanagan just had the highest median selling price and average selling price ever for the month of May.  And the Benchmark Price for the overall North Okanagan market has been climbing steadily since the start of the year, hitting its highest mark since August 2023.
• Overall the North Okanagan market moves into a Balanced Market.
• Bank of Canada begins to lower interest rates.

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Sales Still Slow But Much Better Than March

North Okanagan Items of Note for April:

• Unit Sales make nice rebound after abysmal March sales (143 from 91). 
• Inventory finally reaches pre-pandemic levels as Active Listings inch above 10-Year Average.
• Overall North Okanagan market on the cusp between Buyer's and Balanced Market.

Conclusion

Sales make a nice rebound from March's very low numbers - even though sales remain about 25% below the 10-Year average.  

Prices are wavering but continue to be fairly flat.

Inventory in the North Okanagan finally back to pre-pandemic levels as we see new listings above the 10-Year average.

It does appear that many would-be buyers are still waiting to hear that interest rates are coming down.  And with all the uncertainty that is out there who can blame them.  Affordability is still an issue for many buyers.   

And just like last month it continues to be a good opportunity for those people who are looking to buy subject to selling their current home.  In the past few months we have seen many offers/contracts coming in subject to the Buyer selling their home.

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Ouch

North Okanagan Items of Note for January:

• Unit Sales take a dive Year-over-Year (91 vs 131). 
• Both North Okanagan and Central Okanagan hit 10-Year lows for March unit sales.
• Overall North Okanagan market moves from Balanced Market back to a Buyer's Market.

North Okanagan Unit Sales were down 31% Year-over-Year (91 vs 131).  Sales were also down slightly from February (94), which is quite unusual given that March is the transition into the spring market.  March 2024 unit sales were 46% below the 10-Year Average of 169 unit sales (and 43% below the 23-Year average of 160).

It was a 10-year low for unit sales and over the past 23 years only 2009 saw fewer sales for the month of March (86)

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Much Like February 2023 

North Okanagan Items of Note for January:

• Prices up Year-over-Year.  Depending on the metric used pricing was flat or up slightly Year-over-Year.  The only negative growth was the Benchmark Price for townhomes which was down approximately 5% Year-over-Year
• Unit Sales pretty much unchanged from 2023 (94 vs 95)
• New Listings up significantly from last year - Active listings now only 3% below 10-year average
• Overall North Okanagan market moves from Buyer's Market back to a Balanced Market.

North Okanagan Unit Sales were down 1% Year-over-Year (94 vs 95) but up 54% from January (61) - which is to be expected as we head towards the spring market.  February 2024 unit sales were 20% below the 10-Year Average of 118 unit sales (and 19% below the 23-Year average of 116).

One interesting item of note: If we omitted the years 2021 and 2022 (the peak of COVID sales) the revised 8-year average falls to 104 which would put February 2024 only 10% below average.  There is no denying that sales are slow, but looked at in this with this new slant they're not quite as slow as the ten year average would suggest.

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