Slow Sales Continue and now Sellers Pulling Back

Items of Note for May

• New Listings down 21% YoY and lower then April.  North, Central and South Okanagan all see New Listings decline from April to May - only the 2nd time that has happened in the last decade.
• Central Okanagan & South Okanagan New Listings declined 2 months in a row. 
• British Columbia residential home sales down 2% Year-over-Year.
• Bank of Canada keeps overnight rate at 2.25%.

Two things stand out from May's numbers: sales and new listings.

On the sales side, it's a mixed picture. The North Okanagan was down 4.3% year over year — the second lowest May in a decade. The Central Okanagan was down 3.8%, also the second lowest May for sales in ten years. Not great, but not a big surprise given the spring we've had.

The bright spot? The South Okanagan bucked the trend completely — up 26.6% year over year and the third highest May on record in the past decade, sitting 5.7% above the 10-year average. For context, the last time the North and Central Okanagan were above their 10-year averages was April 2022.

Now here's the number that really caught my attention: New Listings. Across all three regions, listings were down year over year by between 18% and 23% — but that's the lesser story. What's more surprising is that all three regions actually saw fewer New Listings in May than in April, which almost never happens. The North Okanagan was down 8.4% from April, with the Central and South Okanagan following the same pattern, down 4.2% and 9.6% respectively.

Even more telling — both the Central and South Okanagan saw more new listings in March than in either April or May. That means two consecutive months of declining listings starting in March, which is when inventory typically begins climbing toward a June peak. In ten years of data, a spring pullback like this hasn't happened before.

So what does it mean heading into summer? Sales are soft, supply may have already peaked for the season, and less inventory combined with cautious buyers sets up a very interesting few months ahead. I’ve always said, one month does not a trend make so we will see how this plays out. 

The big question now is whether June snaps back to normal — or whether this is just the way 2026 is going to play out.

Sales

North Okanagan Unit Sales were down 4.3% Year-over-Year (154 vs 161) and come in 20.6% below the 10 Year Average (194).  
YTD sales are down 7.6% from 2025 (571 vs 618) and 22.6% below the 10 Year Average (738).
In the last 10 years only May 2020 saw fewer sales (131).



 

Median Sales Price

• Median Selling Price was $646,000, which was down 1.4% Year-over-Year ($655,000), and down from April ($672,450). 

Benchmark Price

• Single Family Home Benchmark price is $756,900, which is down 1.5% Year-Over-Year but unchanged from April ($758,000)
• Townhome Benchmark price is $567,100, which up 3.8% Year-over-Year but down from April ($600,700).
• Condo Benchmark price is $322,100, which is unchanged Year-over-Year but up from April ($320,000). 
• The Overall Composite Benchmark Price for the North Okanagan was up 0.5% Year-over-Year ($661,400 vs $658,100) but down from April ($670,100).
   

New Listings hitting the market were down 20.5% Year-over-Year (315 vs 396) which is about 12% below the 10-Year average (356).  New Listings in May were below April numbers and almost equal to March numbers  

Active Listings are down 7.5%Year-over-Year (1016 vs 1098), which puts the North Okanagan about 14% above the 10 year average (890) for the month of May.

The overall North Okanagan market moves in to a Balanced Market.

The Sales to Active Listings ratio is 15% (up from 13% in April).
Between 12-25% is considered a Balanced Market.

The Sales to New Listing ratio is 49% (up from 38% in April).
Between 40-60% is considered a Balanced Market. 


 

Central Okanagan

Unit Sales in the Central Okanagan were down 3.8% Year-over-Year (431 vs 448), which is 17% below the 10 Year Average of 521.  April Year-To-Date sales are 2.4% below 2025 (1238 vs 1269) and 20.1% below the 10 Year Average (1550).
 

Benchmark Price 

• Single Family homes price $1,062,8 which is up 0.6% Year-over-Year and up from April ($1,049,900)
• Townhome price $732,400 which is down 1.9% Year-over-Year but up from April ($724,000)
• Condo price is $498,200 which is down 1,8% Year-over-Year and unchanged from April ($497,500)
• The Overall Composite Benchmark Price for the Central Okanagan was up 0.8% Year-over-Year ($807,500 vs $801,300) and up from April ($798,900)

 May saw 995 New Listings hit the market, which is down 18% Year-over-Year (1212) and 8% below the 10-Year Average of 1052.

And the 3112 current Active Listings is down 10% Year-over-Year (3473) but is still 27% above the 10-year average of 2446.

With a Sales to Active Listings ratio of 14% and Sales to New Listings ratio of 43% the Central Okanagan enters into a Balanced Market.  

Sales Struggle Against a Weak Economy and Rising Mortgage Rates
 

Vancouver, BC – June 11, 2026. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that 6,790 residential unit sales were recorded in Multiple Listing Service^® (MLS^®) Systems in May 2026, down 2 per cent from May 2025. The average MLS^® residential price in BC in May 2026 was down 1.4 per cent at $945,878 compared to $959,216 in May 2025.

Total MLS^® residential sales dollar volume was $6.42 billion, down 3.4 per cent from the same time the previous year. BC MLS^® unit sales were 26.39 per cent lower than the ten-year average for the month of May.

“Rising mortgage rates and a weak labour market continue to constrain activity around the province but especially in the Lower Mainland,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “The recent rise in mortgage rates presents an unexpected headwind for the market this year and may further delay a recovery in activity.”

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume is down 8 per cent to $25.1 billion, compared with the same period in 2025. Residential unit sales are down 6.9 per cent year-over-year at 26,681 units, while the average MLS^® residential price is also down 1.2 per cent to $941,883.