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).  

Click for the full report

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).  

To see full report click here

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

To read the full report click here

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.

Click for full report

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.

Click for full report

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)

Read Full Report

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.

Click to see the full report

A Typical January - Just Slower

North Okanagan Items of Note for January:

• Median Sales Price up Year-over-Year but down big from December's huge gains 
• Unit Sales up 11% Year-over-Year but 32% below 10 Year average
• Overall North Okanagan market moves from Balanced Market to a Buyer's Market

While North Okanagan Unit Sales were up 11% Year-over-Year (61 vs 55), sales are still quite sluggish.  In the past 10 years, in the North Okanagan, only last year saw fewer sales (55) for the month of January.  January 2024 unit sales were 32% below the 10-Year Average of 90 unit sales and 31% below the 23-Year Average of 88 unit sales. 

See full report

• Yearly unit sales hit 10 year low
• Bank of Canada overnight rates starts year at 4.25%, ends at 5%
• Prices up and down (and up?) but all things considered remain surprisingly resilient
• House inventory finally back to normal levels
• 2023 ends in a Balanced Market

Unit Sales

• Total Unit Sales for the year were down 17% from 2022 (1516 vs 1826) 
• Sales 23% below the 10 Year Average (1516 vs 1971)
• 2023 hits 10 year low for Unit Sales

While recording a 10 year low in unit sales may seem unsettling, it probably shouldn't be too surprising given:

• How hot the market was from mid 2020 to March 2022
• How much and how quickly interest rates rose - the central bank raised interest rates 10 times between March, 2022 and July, 2023, bringing its benchmark rate from 0.25% to 5.00% in one of the most aggressive monetary policy tightening campaigns on record.

To give 2023 sales totals a bit of perspective consider that during the 6-year period right before 2014 (2008 thru 2013) yearly sales totals were all lower than the 1516 sales recorded in 2023 (1315, 1462, 1324, 1187, 1308, 1401). 

Click to see full report

Out With A Whimper - Sort Of 

North Okanagan Items of Note for December:

• Sales Prices get a little weird
• Sales remain sluggish - lowest Dec Unit Sales since 2012
• The North Okanagan remains in a Balanced Market.

While North Okanagan Unit Sales were only down slightly Year-over-Year (59 vs 63) sales are still very sluggish with Dec 2023 coming in 39% below the 10-Year Average of 97 Unit Sales.  The last time we saw sales this slow was in 2012 when only 50 Unit Sales were recorded.  Going all the way back to 2002 only 2012, 2010 (55 sales) and 2008 (39 sales) saw fewer sales than 2023.

Click to see the full report