Photo: Pexels
Residential property sales hit record highs in the southern interior of British Columbia in the first month of the year.
The total number of January sales rose 60 percent to 796 units sold from 497 units sold in January 2020, according to the Association of Interior Realtors – a new organization that includes the former Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board and the South Okanagan Real Estate Board .
In the Shuswap and Revelstoke area, home sales rose 50 percent from 40 units in 2020 to 60 units in January 2021. In the South Okanagan area, which stretches from Summerland to Eastgate, dollar volume rose 136 percent in comparison at the same time last year.
“The increase in US dollar sales volume is another impact of COVID-19 as buyers look for larger space to improve their living conditions,” said Kim Heizmann, president of the Association of Interior Realtors.
Bigger houses, of course, have a higher price. However, the association saw price pressures caused by a shortage of inventory that cannot meet consumer demand.
Active January home listings from Revelstoke to Peachland remained at the December 2020 level but remained 37 percent below the January 2020 stock of 2,806.
Overall listings remained low in the South Okanagan region as all housing categories fell. Condominium inventories in the South Peace River area remain low, down 27 percent from the same period last year.
“A chronic shortage of new condominiums in areas like the South Peace River or Revelstoke region makes it even more difficult for inventory to meet demand, especially when those areas are driven by recreational property purchases,” says Heizmann.
The reference price for single-family homes in the Central Okanagan, North Okanagan, and Shuswap / Revelstoke regions increased year over year, with the most notable increase in the single-family home category being 14 percent.
In South Okanagan, average sales prices rose double-digit year-over-year, while average condominium sales in the South Peace River rose 69 percent compared to January 2020 prices.
Photo: Contributed
