Kelowna Real Estate News

March 2019

Coming out of the two slowest months of the year, February was still a cold and snowy month which likely had an effect on inventory and sales numbers, but the average price is holding steady. We look forward to seeing what the warmer weather in March and April bring for activity.

Single Family Home sales continue to be lower than last year, which is to be expected.  The listings are 27% higher than last year, which sounds worse than it is.  We still have 20% less listings than the 10 year average, and almost half of the inventory there was in 2009.

Townhomes saw an incredible jump in listing inventory over this time last year with over DOUBLE the active listings. 1/3 of the inventory is brand new construction, and over 60% of the listings are asking over $500,000. This is still in line with our 10 year average, so it’s not as outrageous as it might seem.

Apartment/Condo’s are always a lagging indicator. They are still outperforming the other segments with 15% of the inventory selling, but we are expecting them to fall in line with the rest of the market later this year.

Major Cities Report

Victoria

Victoria Real Estate Market Awaits A Spring Thaw

A total of 421 properties sold this February, this is 22.8% fewer than sold last February. Sales of condos were down 25.9%, Single family homes were down 15.8% both from last February. However, a 28% increase from January 2019. Benchmark value for a single family home in the Victoria core in February 2018 was $848,600. “Local REALTORS® continue to be very busy showing listings, so demand is evident in the greater Victoria area,” adds President Woolley. “Currently, we still have very low inventory compared to the long-term average with little having come into the market this past month. As the spring thaw comes, there’s a good chance more listings will come onto the market which will create more options for prospective buyers.”

Vancouver

Housing Market Conditions Continue To Favour Home Buyers

A total of 1,484 properties sold in February 2019, a 32.8% decrease since February 2018. The Metro Vancouver* housing market saw increased supply from home sellers and below average demand from home buyers in February. The total number of homes currently listed for sale on the MLS® system in Metro Vancouver is 11,590, a 48.2% increase compared to February 2018 (7,822) and a 7.2% increase compared to January 2019 (10,808). The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $1,016,600. This represents a 6.1 per cent decrease over February 2018, a 6.2 per cent decrease over the past six months, and a 0.3 per cent decrease compared to January 2019.

Calgary

Housing Market Feels The Chill As Oversupply Continues

The effects of Calgary’s economic climate continue to create weak sales activity and elevated inventory in the city’s housing market. As of February, citywide benchmark prices were $414,400. This is nearly five per cent below last January, slightly lower than last month’s figures and over 10 per cent below highs recorded in 2014. After the first two months of the year, detached sales were 1,079 units. This is 13 per cent below last year’s levels and nearly 30 per cent below long-term averages. Sales eased across all city districts except the North West. Activity remained well below normal levels across all districts of the city.

Edmonton

Unit Sales And Average Prices Up In February

When compared to January 2019, unit sales across all categories increased, with single family home sales increasing 23.31%, condo sales increasing 26.05% and duplex/rowhouse sales increasing 17.53%. Average unit prices rose from last month, but are down from February 2018. The average price of a single-family home was $430,000, which was an increase of 6.36 % compared to January 2019 but down 2.73% compared to February 2018. The average price of a condo was $222,267, an increase of 1.64% from January 2019 but a decrease of 6.62% year over year.

Toronto

Market Conditions Tighten Compared To Last Year

Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 5,025 homes sold through TREB’s MLS® System in February 2019. This sales total was down by 2.4 per cent on a year-over-year basis. Sales were also down compared to January 2019 following preliminary seasonal adjustment. Despite sales being down year-over-year, new listings actually declined by a greater annual rate. This suggests that market conditions became tighter compared to last year. Tighter market conditions continued to support year-over-year average price growth.

© 2024 © The Krieg Family RE/MAX Kelowna Real Estate