April 2018 Real Estate Update – A Mixed Bag

Real Estate Market Update

April 2018 Real Estate Update – In a statement from the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board, OMREB President Marv Beer indicated what many in the industry already knew – the market is down. However, April was up over March but down over April of 2017. Knowing the cause of the softening it difficult to say due to the numerous changes in rules and regulations from both the Provincial and Federal governments though. Only a longer vision of the market will help with that assessment.

Sales of residential properties from Peachland to Revelstoke tallied 746, 19% more than March, but 9% down from this time last year, reports the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board (OMREB).

“Despite the typical spring upswing, this is the second month in a row where sales are fewer than last year’s tally, suggesting the market is continuing to normalize” comments Beer, cautioning that more data points are needed to constitute an actual trend. 

Not seeming to be impacted was new listings in the region. New listings were 1519 compared to March’s 1393 and last year’s 1378.

“This is more new listings than we’ve seen for some time, likely resulting from two possible sources: more housing supply coming on-stream as developers complete construction and a factor may also be fears related to the government’s proposed speculation tax, which, for some, could add a substantial
and unexpected tax burden,” Beer comments.

The Shuswap saw strong growth on both the units sold and Single Family Residential sales as well up in both categories.

The other strong indicated for the North Okanagan and Shuswap over Central Okanagan was the days to sell metric.  Meaning homes in both the North Okanagan and Shuswap regions are moving much faster then Central Okanagan. Average days on market in the North Okanagan is down 26% to 71 days and down 30% in Shuswap to 96 days.

North Okanagan Real Estate Statistics (Vernon, Coldstream, Silver Star, Armstrong, Lumby & Enderby)

*April 2018 Real Estate Update – April 2018 vs April 2017

• Overall unit sales down 14% to 190 units.
• Single Family Residential home sales down 13% to 92 units.
• Active listings down 9.3% to 1,261 units.

Shuswap Real Estate Market Statistics (Salmon Arm & Sicamous)

*April 2018 Real Estate Update – Stats for April 2018 vs April 2017

• Overall unit sales up slightly 0.8% to 117 units.
• Single Family Residential home sales up 20% to 50 units.
• Active listings down 5.3% to 964 units.

For more information visit the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board at www.omreb.com.

*Source: Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board Statistics
North Okanagan: North Okanagan Monthly Statistics, April, 2018
Shuswap: Shuswap / Revelstoke Monthly Statistics, April, 2018