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The wild days of rapid-fire Okanagan real estate sales have faded into history — for the time being, anyway.
The Association of Interior Realtors said 844 residential unit sales were recorded across the region in November, which is a 48.4 per drop in sales compared with the number of units sold in November 2021, or a decrease of 15.6 per cent compared with the previous month.
“Although the numbers seem far below what we have become accustomed to, comparing sales from this year to last year would be like comparing apples to oranges,” Association of Interior Realtors president Lyndi Cruickshank said in a press release.
“Comparing to a typical seasonal pre-pandemic November would represent a more accurate comparison over the frenzied market over the last few years, (showing) that we are currently not that far off from an average November.”
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In Central Okanagan, there were 120 single-family home sales, which was a drop year over year of 52.4 per cent. It took an average of 57 days to sell a home, which is 60.5 per cent more than what happened a year earlier and there were 862 homes listed, a rise of 143.5 per cent from the year earlier.
That said, the Central Okanagan benchmark price, the estimated value of a typical home in each market, rose .5 per cent to $1,013, 800.
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The North Okanagan faced a similar situation, with 53 sales completed, a rise of 51.4 per cent year over year. It took around 49 days to sell a home, a rise of 22.7 per cent, and inventory was far more plentiful, with 255 homes, or 102 per cent more, on the market. In the North Okanagan, the benchmark price also rose .3 per cent to $710,200.
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The South Okanagan also saw a decline in sales, though the least dramatic of all Okanagan markets. With 58 sales made in November, the percentage decrease was 21.6. It took 64 days to sell a property, which is 28.9 per cent longer than before, and inventory rose by 81 per cent to 319 properties listed. The benchmark price in the South Okanagan also rose slightly to $733,100.
The benchmark price in all other housing categories for the south, central and north Okanagan saw minor to moderate increases compared with November 2021, with the highest percentage increase in the condominium category for the South Okanagan; up 16.4 per cent compared with November 2021, coming in at $422,800.
“While it’s great to see that the number of active listings is higher than it has been for a long time, the market remains tight as new inventory seems to be flattening,” Cruickshank said. “This is not unusual for this time of year as sellers hold off on listing while they are enjoying the holiday season.”
The average number of days to sell a home, always a good barometer to watch, increased to 65 days compared with the previous month’s 64 days. It’s important to note that the average number of days on market is for the entire Okanagan region and that the indicator will vary depending on home type and subregion.