New Listings Finally Arrive but Continued Sluggish Sales
Items of Note for May:
- New Listings Arrive - The 352 New Listings in May is only 2% below the 10 year average of 361. A welcome relief after well below average New Listings hitting the market since February.
- Continued Sluggish Home Sales - the only May with fewer Unit Sales in the past 10 years was 2020.
- The overall North Okanagan market is currently in a Balanced Market.
- Single Family Home prices continue to rise. The Benchmark Price for detached Single Family homes continues upwards - Up 11.6% since January.
Unit Sales With 179 Unit Sales May was16% below the 10 Year Average of 213 Unit Sales. Year-to-Date Unit Sales are 22% below the 10 Year Average (610 vs 785). May thru August are, on average, the months that see the most sales so the next few months should go a long way to determine what sales for the year will look like.
Average and Median Sales Prices for the overall North Okanagan market dropped from April numbers. But the overall trend has been moving upwards since December.
- May Average Selling Price $689,626. Down from $726,274 in April and down from $727,925 last May.
- May Median Selling Price $641,600. Down from 646,750 in April and down from $671,500 last May.
Benchmark Price for Single Family homes has increased every month since hitting a low in January.
- Benchmark Price for Single Family homes in May was $777,600 - Up from $764,400 in April. The Benchmark price for single family homes has increased 11.6% since bottoming out in January ($696,500 vs $777,600). $777,600 is the highest the Benchmark price for single family homes has been since June 2022 ($798,500) and is only 3.7% below the peak price in May 2022 ($807,600)
The number of Active Listings continues to rise (+43% from 2022) overall, but it is still historically low. Back in January it looked like we were on our way back up to normal inventory levels but with three months (Feb, March, April) of well below average new listings hitting the market inventory remained about 22% below the 10 year average thru April. With the uptick in New Listings coming out in May inventory did improve, and currently sits about 19% below the 10 year average for the month of May (799 actual vs 995).
Overall we are currently in a Balanced Market.
The Sales to Active Listings ratio is 22% (up from 21% in March). Above 20-25% is considered a Sellers Market.
The Sales to New Listing ratio is 43% (down from 54% in March). Between 40-60% is considered a Balanced Market.
Days to Sell Average remains low remains low at 59 days. While sales may be slow buyers are quick to act on homes that are priced correctly. There are motivated buyers in the market - just not a lot of them.
So, overall the North Okanagan market continues to be quite resistant. The market for single family homes in the lower price ranges has really heated up. But we are seeing sales across all price ranges and property types.
Central Okanagan
Overall Year-to-Date Unit Sales are down in the Central Okanagan approx18.5% over the 10-year average (1829 vs 2246). However, sales did rebound nicely in May coming in less then 5% below the 10 year average (556 vs 584) making May the first "decent" month of sales of the year for the Central Okanagan.
Year-to-Date New Listings are only 3% below the 10 year average (4072 vs 4197).
With 2072 Active Listings, the Central Okanagan is only 7% below the 10 year average of 2230 Active Listings for the month of May.
The Benchmark Price for Single Family homes in the Central Okanagan is currently $1,048,900 which is down slightly from April's $1,051,100 and 7% below the April 2022 peak price of $1,131,800.
Interest Rates
The big news is the Bank of Canada announcement and how this may affect the housing market moving into the second half of the year. We may see an initial surge in sales as people who are pre-approved take advantage of the lower rate. On the other end of the spectrum we may see would be buyers pull out of the market as the uncertainty around interest rates is, again, going to play a key role in real estate markets.
I've been talking about a possible Dead Cat Bounce the past couple months. Given this latest interest rate hike we may finally see that happen. Add to that a dry, smoky summer and...
Stay tuned.
If you or someone you know is looking to buy or sell and need help don't hesitate to call, txt or email.? My door is always open.
