Kelowna Housing Update

There were 25 residential real estate sales for the week ending September 16 2023. Twenty on the Kelowna side of the bridge and five on the west side.

What Does This Mean? Why Is This Happening and How Long Will it Continue?

If you’re just beginning to lear about Kelowna real estate today 25 sales in a week is bad. Last week was bad and the previous week was almost as bad. The trend line tells us that next week won’t be much better.

We’re going through a perfect storm right now with two active forest fires in our market area which are both considered out of control. This means insurance companies won’t open any new policies in an active fire zone and even on the Kelowna side of the bridge it’s on a case by case basis. The third domino to fall is that without fire insurance lenders won’t advance funds on new mortgages.

With all that said, I don’t ever remember the weekly number this low other than weeks between Christmas and New Years with all those holidays.

When the market gets like this and it’s structurally difficult to buy a home the demand is still present. People are still planning on moving because of typical reasons like having a new baby, job promotion or loss, getting transferred to Calgary or any other reason under the sun. We know with absolute certainty that these fires will be put out soon enough and when things get back to normal we will see these numbers get back on track.

When we’re in the middle of a crisis it always seems as though it will never end. It’s the same as when things are booming here and homes sell on the first weekend it seems like the good times will never end but things always get back to normal sooner or later.

Meantime, if your home is on the market right now please stay calm and accept that the showings for your place will increase once things stabilize. Take this time to connect with people you don’t see on a regular basis and just ask if they’re doing ok and find out if you can help.

Read Last week's Market Update Here

Thank you for reading,

Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith Royal Lepage Kelowna Lifetime Award of Excellence 250-979-8066 Toll Free 1-877-330-5884

Kierra Smith, Royal Lepage Kelowna 2x Olympian 250-300-1114