Hello & Happy Spring!
As we head into the spring season we are seeing a renewed interest in the Kelowna real estate market from out of town buyers and especially investors.
According to the latest data from CMHC, Kelowna's rental market has remained very strong as it has across the country. The national average rent is $1984/month a slight decline of only .6% so far this year. In Kelowna, we continue to see a strong demand for rental units and many investors are choosing to buy in Kelowna over Vancouver as the return is higher. Right now, you can buy a home in Kelowna’s Lower Mission for $1,289,000 with a 2 bedroom legal suite. According to our property manager the home could generate $6500/month. In comparison, we picked a few other neighbourhoods in the Vancouver area to evaluate (this information was collected through our network of Realtors in these markets and may be subject to change):
Additionally, Kelowna and the Okanagan's population is projected to increase by over 50,000 people by 2030 and provides an excellent opportunity for appreciation; whatever you buy, the value will likely appreciate with our continued growth and demand.
Welcome to first month of 2023!
We are looking forward to the year ahead. Already we feel the downward trend of the market from the last 2 quarters of 2022 leveling out. Buyers are back looking to make purchase decisions and although some offers may be aggressive, they are making offers. Many sellers are now holding relatively firm on their prices which wasn’t the case in the last quarter of 2022.
If we remove the period of the explosive market and dramatic halt, we are in a similar market to 2019. In comparison to 2019; days on market for 2022 was 69 and in 2019 it was 64, in 2022 there were 2365 sales and in 2019 we had 2338 homes sell. Additionally, mortgage rates back in 2019 were 5.34% and now are at 5.19% (over $1million rates provided by mortgage broker Juliana Mason).
Analyzing the numbers one segment that continues to thrive is residential waterfront, with a dramatic increase in price and limited inventory.
We continue to have numerous discussions around our office about the real estate market and one thing always remains - people still need to move no matter what the market conditions.
If you have any questions we can help answer please let us know. We would be happy to help.
Thank you,
Shannon & Tamara
P.S. we reward referrals
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
Welcome to September!
Now that we are a few weeks back from summer vacations, routines have started to set in. We love this month as it feels like the start of a year, with the promise of new beginnings. This positive environment has been transitioning to the market, despite the recent interest rate increases. Although we are not yet on an upward trend with prices or even close to the number of sales from a few months ago; buyers are starting to make purchase decisions. Offers are being negotiated more frequently when compared to the activity we have experienced in the previous 2 months.
August sales were up 25% over July and we feel this trend will continue into September and hopefully beyond. Although our inventory is 3 times what it was back in April we are seeing fewer properties being listed each month. We are optimistic we will slowly start to see a decline in overall inventory in the months ahead. Prices are down 8% year to date and are on par to the price levels of October 2021, making this fall a great time to be a buyer.
Given that we have a strong rental market, there is increased demand for investment properties with buyers coming from across Canada. In addition, the change from the frenzied market has local buyers jumping back in along with those that are looking to either upgrade or downsize.
If you or anyone you know has any questions about the real estate market, we are always available.
Tamara and Shannon
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