The Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board says sales activity of all MLS property types last month was the second strongest July on record for residential sales since 1981.
Bucking the national trend, the B.C. economy is growing and constantly improving, says OMREB and that, coupled with low interest rates and ongoing job growth, continue to support rising consumer confidence and home purchases in most markets in the province.
“Market conditions in the Okanagan-Shuswap remain steady,” said Christopher Miller, OMREB President and an active realtor in the Central Okanagan.
“Strong consumer demand was robust last month and pushed home sales to near record levels for the month of July – second only to last year at this time.”
A lack of inventory for some home types is putting upward pressure on prices in some communities, Miller said.
“The number of active listings in our board area continues to decline— down 6 per cent compared to last year at this time — with some segments experiencing shortages and moving from balanced to sellers’ market conditions.”
Within OMREB’s three diverse markets—Central Okanagan, North Okanagan and Shuswap-Revelstoke—sales activity and prices, and supply and demand tends to vary among property types at different times and locations, with ups and downs experienced zone-by-zone and month-by-month.
According to the latest OMREB statistics, while the recreation markets in the Shuswap and North Okanagan are seeing little activity, demographic realities are superseding the impact of weakness in the oil and gas sector as purchases by retirees and those looking for a lifestyle change have remained on an upward trajectory board-wide.
“OMREB’s June 2015 Buyers’ Survey results showed 45 per cent of buyers were empty nesters, retirees or couples without children who are moving up or downsizing,” Miller said. “It is interesting to note that a consistent 18 per cent of buyers were coming from Alberta, while 55 per cent were from within our board area, 10 per cent moved from the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, and nine per cent came from other areas of the province.”
In OMREB’s central zone (Peachland to Lake Country) single family residential sales remained just about level with last July, rising a nominal 1.1 per cent, while year-to-date totals improved by 11 per cent over the same time period last year.
July saw overall sales of all property types dip slightly (0.9%) with 577 units compared to 582 in 2014. However, year-to-date sales activity improved by 9.5 per cent compared to the same period last year (January through July) to 3,498 units from 3,195 in 2014.
After a number of soft months, the North Okanagan reported a two per cent improvement in single family residential sales during July compared to last year and recorded a seven per cent decline year-to-date.
In the Shuswap, single family home sales for the month rose 11 per cent compared to July 2014 and saw a 16 per cent improvement year-to-date.
