Kelowna Real Estate Market Report March 2022

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, last month’s real estate market really wasn’t for the faint-hearted buyer!

Yet again, we saw many properties going into multiple offers and we saw properties at times sell $100,000 and $200,000 over asking, which in the past has been unheard of here.

For example, a 5 bedroom home in Rutland South listed for $1099,000 selling for $1,240,000 –  $141,000 over the asking price, and in Kettle Valley a 3 bedroom Townhouse listed for $699,000 sold for $911,000 – $212,000 over the asking price!

Looking at the previous month’s Buyer Survey results, it seemed that the number of first-time buyers looking was down, whereas revenue and move-up buyers were up.

The additional restrictions caused by the rise in the Omicron virus, and the difficulty with roads between the Lower Mainland and Kelowna, may have affected some Buyers being able to visit, but interestingly there was a modest increase in Alberta buyers.

There were also fewer buyers in the Kelowna area compared to other areas of our region and ‘affordability’ likely one of the issues.

Anecdotes from last month’s Kelowna Real Estate market…

Just a sample of some of the things I saw working in the Real Estate Market last month-:

• Affordable family homes still appear to be in very hot demand, and trying to buy a family home in Lake Country, for example, feels like I’m trying to buy a Unicorn for my clients!
• For those parents who are looking to purchase a condo ready for students attending UBCO next fall, Condo prices have increased significantly, and only yesterday there were two sales of three-bedroom units in $570,000 – $580,000 range. Both sold over the asking price.
• As I write this report there are currently no condos for sale in the Quail Ridge area.
• The +55 Condo market has seemed a little subdued, and prices aren’t rising at the same rate as other sectors. This is likely to be due to some buyers being ‘Snowbirds’, hence they are away at present, and they reduce numbers travelling due to Omicron restrictions.

Kelowna & Central Okanagan Real Estate Sales February 2022.

February 2022 Kelowna Residential Real Estate sales numbers continued to climb, after a dip in December.

Compared to the last month-:

– Total Sales were up 40.2% last month.

– Single-Family Homes sales were up 51.9%.

– Strata sales up 56.5%

Compared to last year -:

– Overall sales were down 17.7%

– Single-Family Home sales were down 13.5%.

– Strata sales were down 13.4%.

Kelowna Real Estate Inventory Levels February 2022

This month’s graph shows that inventory is currently keeping up with demand, except for Townhomes.

Total listings in the Central Okanagan are now 929 up from 906 last month and down from 1,407 last year. 

Single Family & Bare Land Strata Residential 338 units up from 302 last month and down from 431 last year.

Condo – 201 up from 196 units last month and down from 381 last year.

Town Homes – 77 down from 95 last month and down from 175 last year.

Median Real Estate Prices – February 2022

Single Family Homes & Bare Land Strata 

Feb 2022 $1,140,950   Jan 2022 $1,020,000 Feb 2021 $820,000 – up 11.9% compared to last month and 39.1% compared to last year.

Condos

Feb 2022 $495,000 2021 $377,000 – up 31.3% compared to last year

Townhomes

2022 $727,500,000  2021 $569,000 – up 27.9%

Why I feel Kelowna Real Estate prices will keep rising.

1.Inventory –  Currently, there is no sign of prices starting to level off, especially in areas of the market when product’ is in short supply.

2. Increasing Interest Rates –  the Bank of Canada meets tomorrow to discuss interest rates, and it is probably the worst kept secret that rates will start to rise. In the short term that is likely to be 0.25% which is unlikely to put the brakes on Buyers, who have already locked in interest rates with their Mortgage pre-approvals.

4. Working From Home –  we have started to see some lifting of Covid restrictions in BC, but there is evidence that people will be able to continue working from home, so the lure of the Okanagan, as a place to live, is likely to continue.

Update on Wild Cards which may affect the Kelowna Real Estate Market

1. Government Intervention – As I mentioned last month, the Government is threatening to intervene to ‘cool’ the Housing Market in the Spring of 2022. Yesterday the BC Real Estate Association announced its alternative proposed solutions and their report can be found at https://www.bcrea.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/BCREA_BetterWayHome_WhitePaper.pdf

2. Covid pandemic / Consumer Confidence – as I look around Kelowna this week, I am definitely seeing more visitors to the area. My sense is there is tremendous pent-up demand for a return to ‘normalcy’, and the increase in Tourism is likely to have a very positive knock-on effect to businesses, and hence consumer confidence.

3. The Effect of higher Interest Rates on Luxury Real Estate – we are continuing to see strong levels of sales in the Luxury Real Estate side of the market, with 29 sales in the Kelowna area over $2 million last month, and 6 of those sales were over $5 million.

4. The Governments Immigration Policy – the Canadian Government has actively been pursuing higher immigration numbers. With a lifting of Covid restrictions, we are likely to see this starting to take effect in the coming months.

As always, if you would like to receive specific information about your own buying and selling needs in the Kelowna & Central Okanagan area please call or email me and my current listings can be viewed at  https://trishcenci.com/listings/trish-listings

Kind Regards

Trish Cenci

This month’s photo – Townhomes being Built in Glenmore.