Welcome to Winter!
Winter sure came in with a-vengeance this year and along with it came a market shift or ‘slowdown’ which was slightly earlier than normal. Typically, we see sales start to decrease by mid-November with December being statistically the slowest month in the valley for sales. While sales are down at this time, there are some still happening and this can be a great time to sell,. Although showings will be limited, there is less competition and the online traffic is at the highest point.
We are still seeing new developments coming to market and investors from other city centres are still actively pursuing land acquisitions. Some of these investors are building apartments for rent. Our newly elected Kelowna council recently approved rezoning for two more rental buildings in the downtown area and more are close to being approved . The demand for rental properties continues to be at an all time high. This chart below (kindly shared with us by Associated Property Management) gives you an idea of current rents in our city. Rentals.ca recently reported that the rents in Kelowna are up over 20% from last year and the average rent for a 1-bedroom condo is close to $2,000 per month.
Interestingly, today the new premier of BC, David Eby, announced a proposed Housing Supply Act which among other things would eliminate rental and age restrictions (excluding 55+) in strata buildings across the province. The provincial government reports that we have 2900 empty condos that cannot be rented right now because of current restrictions. If this act is approved, we may see rent costs come down in coming months given the increase in supply with elimination of restrictions and new buildings coming onto market.
If you have any questions at all please let us know. We are always more than happy to help.
Thank you,
Tamara and Shannon
