Posted by
paige on
March 4, 2011 |
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Things are starting to gear up for Spring in the Kelowna real estate market. Over the last 24 hours there have been 72 new listings come onto the MLS system and 14 sales. February 2011 stats are out and although up over last month, total sales are down 25% over same time last year. Median single family house prices are down slightly from last year… $430,000 to $422,000. Kelowna waterfront property is off a noticable 15% and recreational property prices are down a whopping 80%! First time buyers have been very busy buying up inventory for the last several months between $300-450K thanks to low interest rates and changes to the lending rules. Those people that sold their homes to the first timers are now starting to look at purchasing with over 32% of the buyers out there making the move up. Further changes to the lending rules coming March 18th is giving buyers an extra incentive to jump off the fence and buy. These sale numbers mean that pricing agressively is critical to attract a buyer and with Kelowna’s economy predicted to grow slowly but surely in 2011 I predict the buyers will come and we can expect a balanced steady market to continue.
If you’re thinking of buying or selling, call me on my direct line at 250-862-6464.
Talk to you soon…
Paige
Posted by
paige on
February 23, 2011 |
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The Okanagan Mainline Real Estate board has been collecting information on buyer profiles… where they’re coming from and what they’re buying. Serious buyers are taking advantage of the current market conditions while they last. On average in the past 5 months, 57% of buyers are coming from within the Okanagan Valley, 14% from Alberta, 13% from the Lower Mainland/Vancouver Island, 7% from other areas in BC, 4% from Saskatchewan/Manitoba, 3% outside Canada and just under 2% from Eastern Canada.
In January 2011 the shift went from predominantly first time buyers to move-up buyers with 32% moving on up, and 27% buying for their first time. 8% downsized from single family to residential, and 8% were revenue or recreational property buyers. A small 1.6% of buyers in January moved to a Retirement Community.
On the banking side of things the largest group, a healthy 54%, financed with a conventional mortgage and had more than a 20% down payment. 28% financed with high ratio insured mortgages and had less than 20% down and almost 19% paid cash! Understanding where buyers come from helps form part of the big real estate picture. For instance, a change in entry level home buying can have a ripple effect through the market as many move-up buyers rely on first-timers to buy their existing homes.
If you’d like more information on how buyer profiling can affect the sale of your home, please call me directly at 250-862-6464.
Talk to you soon…
Paige
Posted by
paige on
February 12, 2011 |
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It’s the number one question I get asked: “What’s the market going to do?” Kelowna’s real estate market changes periodically and is affected by various things like economic growth and interest rates and simply, it is what it is… steady. The big question is how are you going to navigate it?
“Should I buy now or wait?” Good question… How do you feel about inflation and interest rates? Do you think they’re going up?
Consider this: If your mortgage amount today was $300,000 and your interest rate is 3.6%
PAYMENT: $1,518 INTEREST PAID IN 1 YEAR: $10,676 PRINCIPAL PAID OFF IN 1 YEAR: $7,540
If you think interest rates are going up, let’s look at the same mortgage amount with an interest rate of 5.6%
PAYMENT: $1,860 INTEREST PAID IN 1 YEAR: $16,656 PRINCIPAL PAID OFF IN 1 YEAR: $5,666
“I’m going to rent until the market hits bottom”. Last time I checked rental rates haven’t gone down for years in Kelowna. Our vacany rate is very low keeping the rents high. In fact, most people that crunch their numbers find that they’re rent is going to cost them more every month than the mortgage to buy the house they’re renting. Checking Kelowna real estate stats for 2009 and 2010 (including Jan 2011), the list to sell ratio (what a house sells for vs. what it’s listed for) differed a meager 1.06%. Looks like prices aren’t changing too much.
If you’re considering a move please don’t hesitate to call me directly at 250-862-6464.
Talk to you soon…
Paige
Posted by
paige on
October 7, 2010 |
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Media reporting about what’s going on in the Kelowna real estate market is all over the board these days. You get the infamous Garth Turner spouting the dire consequences of owning real estate, particularly in the Okanagan (guess he doesn’t own any, poor guy). You see articles from various real estate companies keeping a positive take on what’s really going on out there and amazing front page articles like this SOLD FOR $10,000,000 and of course you get bloggers (like me) who… well, don’t always have a clue about anything.
It’s tough to look at all the pieces and make sense of it. September stats are out 2010 to date Stats and they’re down and they’re scary. BUT… when you consider the big picture buying and selling real estate is more often than not the most successful investment you’ll make. Inventory is up… making selection great for buyers, interst rates are low and sellers need to be very careful when choosing a price with their realtor. Take the plunge!
Talk to you soon…
Paige
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
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