Posted by
paige on
July 7, 2010 |
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Kelowna real estate sales are down again for the 2nd month in a row. In June there were 346 total sales and in May 378. Sale and listing stats up to June 2010 in Kelowna . What does this mean? It means that sellers have to to priced aggressively to attract the wary buyer.
The rush to beat the HST and lower locked in interest rates is over and the next batch of buyers are being very cautious and taking their time. Interestingly, product that has been typically moving quickly and priced under $400K is not moving much at all right now. In June there was 11 homes that sold over $800,000 and 9 of those were over $1,000,000. Haven’t seen those kind of numbers in a while.
Summer has arrived and will no doubt dispell the uncertainty that people are feeling… Kelowna, the best place on earth!
Talk to you soon…
Paige
Posted by
paige on
June 18, 2010 |
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Went to a meeting the other day to listen to a speaker who ALWAYS has a positive take on Kelowna, our growth and our real estate. Rod Gibbings is a local financial planner who has a way of giving the all important reality check when we need it most. Our real estate market is changing and is leaning towards a buyers market again. There has been some press coverage that has painted a negative picture around this most recent shift. Rod started his talk with several pictures of the front page of a Canadian magazine whose titles over the years depicted and predicted doom and gloom in our economy and housing market. Most of these predictions were wrong and in fact, went very far the other way. Check out this revised projection graph from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Canada by far is the best place in the world!
I’ve heard a lot of predictions being thrown around about Kelowna real estate prices coming down 10% this year. No matter how you look at this, I just don’t see how that can actually happen. The BC Real Estate Council predicts sales to be 3% less than 2009 before climbing 4% in 2011. BCREA also predicts home prices will rise by 6% this year over last and remain static for the most part through 2011. Kelowna has usually done better historically than these predictions that lump BC numbers together. Link to Article.
If you’re thinking of buying or selling, please give me a call on my direct line at 250-862-6464.
Talk to you soon…
Paige
Posted by
paige on
June 8, 2010 |
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We finally did it. We paid our penalty and renewed our variable rate mortgage with … another, lower, variable rate mortgage. Now the fun begins. Sleepless nights, nails bitten down, a few new sparklers on my head? No, I’m still banking on things staying relatively level with a few minor bumps upwards along the way. I keep this graph close by in case I start second guessing myself. I find professionally, that people I’ve worked with who have owned 3 or more houses go with variable, that those under 30 are choosing fixed rates, and those better than 50 have split opinions.
There is lots of chatter right now about the real estate market across Canada. Most centers are feeling the pinch of fewer buyers and Kelowna is no exception with our May sales down considerably over last year. The Canadian Real Estate Association has changed their earlier predictions and are calling for a cooling off period with a slight downward movement in prices. Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board’s released their May stats that show sales are down and listings are up. This period of time can be the perfect storm for those seriously wanting to make a move. The idea being that an aggressive listing price will make you stand out from the competition to draw those elusive buyers in. On a firm sale and with money in your jeans, start shopping. Shop hard and make offers… someone will be nervous enough right now to take it! In the scheme of things… do I think the tap will stay off for long? Nope, not in Kelowna.
Talk to you soon…
Paige
Posted by
paige on
May 12, 2010 |
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Do you ever look at the real estate statistics for the Kelowna area? April was a much better month for sales than we have had for almost 2 years. Historically this time of year is always pretty good, but the sales were up over 25% from last year. What does this mean for Kelowna real estate? Sorry, but I don’t have my crystal ball handy, but looking back over the last year, statistics show that home sales do seem to be on an upward swing.
Check out my Statistics page for up-to-date numbers.
Thanks,
Paige
