The local real estate market is continuing to roar ahead right into the summer months. There is no slowing down in the forecast for Central Okanagan real estate as home buyers are starting to take the plunge and jump into home ownership.
It is either feast or famine here in the Kelowna market, as exemplified by a beautiful family home in the highly sought after Dilworth area.
The house popped up on the market late Tuesday (May 27) and in less than 12 hours of being showcased on the Multiple Listing Service, it received 12 showing requests and in less than 24 hours it went into a multiple offer scenario.
This resulted in a very happy seller and a very happy buyer.
Whispers that inventory is soon to climb has been motivating sellers to get realistic on price.
If the home is up for sale at a fair price, in a short period of time buyers seem to be eating up the properties as soon as they jump onto the MLS system.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. recently adjusted its 2014 real estate forecast to reflect that prices will rise slightly, and the agency even nudged up its forecast for price appreciation in 2014 given the strong start to the year, but said gains will slow in 2015.
CMHC’s point forecast for the average price calls for a 3.5 per cent gain to $396,000 in 2014, and a 1.6 per cent gain to $402,200 in 2015.
Keep in mind the CMHC’s forecast is the accumulation of averaged information from coast to coast and is not region-specific. You will not see the same price, sales or inventory when you compare the Central Okanagan to Edmonton or Vancouver to Toronto.
What one has to realize as a seller or buyer is that there is no way to predict the real estate future, but educate yourself and understand what stats are at hand.
Right now, the Kelowna market is hot, so potential sellers should seize the opportunity to get their properties on the market with a price that appeals to anxious local buyers and Alberta buyers who see Kelowna still as Canada’s Hawaii.
