The Kootenay Association of Realtors has announced another record breaking month in the region.
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READ: July Kootenay real estate sales at record high
The Association says that a total of 442 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service in September 2020, a rise of 52.9 per cent over the same time last year.
The average MLS residential price in the region was $395,768, up 11.3 per cent from last year. Total sales in September valued $174.9 million, a 69 per cent rise over September 2019.
This is the fourth month in a row that real estate sales have broken records in the region.
“The impact we were expecting Covid-19 to bring is not reflecting on the real estate market for several reasons. The first is pent-up demand over the last 5 months, and the fact that people may not want to wait until winter arrives. Moreover, Realtors® in the region have adapted well to changing market scenarios and have been quite successful in minimizing the impact of the pandemic. We are sitting on the cusp of a major transition in our daily lives but real estate buyer behaviour in the Kootenays appears to be unaffected,” said KAR President Tyler Hancock.
“Sales numbers may seem to be the go-to parameter for analysts to determine market health but as a Realtor, there is more to it than that,” he said. “Although the numbers may seem extraordinary right now, we must not forget that these are extraordinary times as well. It is great to see sales records being broken, but we cannot use this to forecast how the market will perform as we approach winter.”
One concern is inventory levels, which continue to be low, and that may determine market behaviour in the days to come.
“I remember mentioning this last month that average prices will reach the $400k mark by September and today we’re at $395k. Against the ongoing trend, if we can get more homes on the market, average prices in the region will stabilize,” adds Hancock.
Year-to-date (YTD), Kootenay MLS residential sales dollar in September was $932.6 million, 17.2 per cent higher than what it was last year. YTD Residential unit sales were up for the first time this year by 7.6 per cent at 2486 units, while the average MLS residential price (YTD) was up by 8.9 per cent to $375,141.
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