Kelowna Market Update


After the first half of the year, it appears the listing inventory of single family dwellings is stable at about 1,500 and the average prices are stable at $450,000. The number of monthly sales are about 25% below the average of the last 20 years.

Buyers in this market expect value and many are taking advantage of some exceptional deals in today’s market. We do have some very affordable buys in both the single family and condo markets.

930 single family homes sold so far this year which is 11% less than last year, year to date. In June 2011, 182 single family dwellings sold, which makes it one of the slowest months in 20 years. Only 10.5% of the single family dewllings listings sold compared to 30% in a strong market for Kelowna. Our average price is at $456,580 and it is holding well. Of the 49 apartments that sold in June, the average price was $289,912. 41 townhomes sold at an average of $348,305 and 17 lots changed hands in June averaging $307,812. There were 3 lots on Hobson Crescent that were not lakefront, were 0.25 acres, listed at $450,000 and had multiple offers. They all sold last month for $20,000 over asking plus HST in only 3 days. There you have it! Great deals are selling, money is available. From a total of 450 listings over $1 million dollars, only 6 properties sold in June.

We receive all kinds of different reports stating that we will have anywhere from a 25% drop in price to all the way up to 15% increase in the year to come. The fact is, these are all opinions and nobody seems to really know. We like the hard facts and prefer to make our own graphs which we always share with you. Looking at the graphs it shows us the trend, and with that information we can form our own opinion. The fact is, the numbers are clear and do not lie. The fact is, since 1950, on average every 11 years, real estate doubled value, and people always said it will not go up any higher.

This is a great time to buy real estate!

Remember, Good Deals Are Not Found, They Are Made.

Major Cities Report

Victoria: Real Estate Sales Rise in June
A total of 618 homes and other properties sold in June through the Victoria Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), up from 572 sales in May and very close to the 625 sales in June of last year. The average price for single-family homes sold in Greater Victoria last month was $629,292, up from $628,462 in May. The median price also rose to $569,900 while the six-month average declined slightly to $619,568. There were 23 single family home sales of over $1 million in June.

Vancouver: Summer Housing Market Trends Toward Balance After An Active Spring Season
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales of detached, attached and apartment properties reached 3,262 in June, a 9.8% increase compared to the 2,972 sales in June 2010 and a 3.4% decline compared to the 3,377 sales in May 2011. The MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver over the last 12 months has increased 8.7 % to $630,921 in June 2011 from $580,237 in June 2010. Since the end of May, the benchmark price of a detached home rose more than $147,000 on the Westside of Vancouver and over $80,000 in West Vancouver. Detached home prices in Richmond, however, levelled off slightly, declining $25,000 in June."

Calgary: Condo And Homes Sales Finding Their Footing
First year-over-year increase in monthly condominium sales since April 2010. The single family market recorded 1,398 sales in the month of June 2011. This is an increase of 32% when compared to June 2010 when 1,059 single family homes sold in the city of Calgary. With a total of 7,231 sales after the first half of the year, year-to-date single family sales are 6% higher than last year. Year-to-date average price of a single family home in Calgary is $472,330. while the median price is $410,000, virtually unchanged over levels recorded in the previous year.

Edmonton: Optimistic About Strength In The Local Housing Market
In the first half of the year the average price of a single family detached home has risen from $357,540 to $379,409 while the all-residential price has risen from $308,497 to $330,297. However compared to the same-month year-over-year, prices have risen consistently between the levels set in the past two years. In the short term, when compared to the previous month, prices in June were generally stable. Single family homes were up 0.31% from $378,239 to $379,409. There were 1,768 residential sales in June. There are currently 8,432 residential properties in the MLS® System inventory and days-on-market is slower at 53 days (up from 50 in May).

Toronto: MLS® Sales And Average Price Up In June
Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 10,230 home sales through the TorontoMLS® system in June 2011 – up 21% compared to June 2010. This number represented the third best June result on record behind 2007 and 2009. The number of transactions during the first six months of 2011 amounted to 48,189 – down by 4.5% compared to the first half of 2010. The average price for June transactions was $476,371 – a 9.5% increase over June 2010. In the short term, when compared to the previous month, prices in June were generally stable. Single family homes were up 0.31% from $378,239 to $379,409.