Is Kelowna Side of Bridge Becoming "The 'Hood"?
The high end of our real estate market has finally started to take off with 5 sales last month over $1 million. Nothing really unusual there except 4 of them were on the westside (OK, West Kelowna). If you haven't been to the Okanagan in a few years you won't recognize the west side with new malls, restaurants, stores and housing development sprouting up everywhere. Gone are the days of Old MacDonalds Farm and the Waterslides. Outsiders are quick to point out the absence of a hospital but unless you're a dedicated Costco shopper, there's really no reason to travel across the bridge if you live in West Kelowna. If you do cross daily, there considerably less angst with the new bridge (how long can we call it new?) solving traffic problems.
Let's look closely at housing numbers. March 2012 produced 183 residential sales. The average sale price last month was $501,000 (it's right...I double checked) but this is likely inflated with 1 home selling over $4 million and the other 4 over $1 million. This is up considerably from February when we recorded 147 sales at $455,000. The first quarter of 2012 generated 439 sales at a $465,000 average which is down from the first quarter last year at 455 sales/$486,000 average.
There are 1,895 homes for sale including 176 foreclosures (YIKES!). Although housing numbers are increasing in terms of unit sales, we're still mired in a buyers' market. with almost 1900 homes for sale we would have to be generating just over 300 sales per month to be considered a balanced market and we're nowhere near that number. There were 367 sales in the active $300,000-$500,000 market. More info on Kelowna real estate at www.okanaganbc.com .
Have a safe and happy Easter loyal blog readers. Some years Jo and I are run ragged over this long weekend and other years our phone doesn't ring at all. Let's hope for a happy medium this year.
Andrew Smith
Smith McLellan Group - Royal LePage Kelowna
Call Andy for his daily real estate picks 250-979-8066 or 1-877-330-5884
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