South Cariboo real estate continues to be a hot commodity.

Winter is typically a slow time for real estate, but business appears to be booming in the communities of 100 Mile House and Clinton. Royal LePage 100 Mile Realty reaped $14 million in sales in January, compared with $4 million at the same time last year, broker-manager Ron Kelly said.

“It’s just unbelievable, we had 48 sales in January,” Kelly said.

A similar story is being seen at RE/MAX 100 Mile House, where business is up three times over the same period last year. In January 2020, for instance, there were 10 real estate sales on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This year, there are 28, RE/MAX owner David Jurek said. He noted his team has also submitted 54 deals within the first month, while last year there were only seven.

On average, homes are only listed for only eight days on the market. Right now there are only 69 active single-family residential listings on the MLS.

“Average price is hard to calculate in such a short time but it went up by about seven per cent in 2020 compared to 2019. Our 2019 average price was $322,000 and our 2020 was $346,000,” Jurek said, adding he expects prices to go up this year if they have the inventory.

The growth is attributed to an influx of retirees and people leaving the city for more affordable homes closer to nature. 100 Mile House, with its two big grocery stores, hospital and other services, seems to be a huge draw, with the nearby 108 Golf Course a nice bonus, Kelly added.

READ MORE: 16% boom predicted for B.C. real estate sales in 2021: experts

“There’s a lot of people coming to the area and it doesn’t show any sign of stopping,” he said.

It’s not just the bigger towns attracting buyers: the village of Clinton is also seeing demand outstripping supply, said Royal LePage Kamloops realtor Blake Bolster. He recently saw multiple offers on a property in Clinton, a first in his 14 years as a realtor for the area. While retirees are also looking to Clinton, he said others are taking advantage of the area’s improved internet services to do their jobs remotely.

At the moment, Bolster only has three properties listed for sale in Clinton, compared with 20 to 25 properties last year at this time. He hopes he can get a few more properties on the market to keep prices reasonable.

However, Kelly noted the biggest danger to the housing market is running out of places to sell. Usually, he would have around 30 to 50 vacant lots for sale at 108 Mile but he only has nine at the moment. Lots that do go up for sale are usually sold within a week.

Jurek agreed, noting he has seen an interest in the number of vacant lots.

“Four months of inventory or less is considered a seller’s market and we currently have two-and-a-half months of inventory,” Jurek said. “It’s definitely a seller’s market so if people are thinking about selling or have had that difficult property, now might be a good time to sell because this is one of the better markets we’ve ever had.”

@kellysinoskipatrick.davies@100milefreepress.netLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.