2021 best year ever recorded for Kamloops real estate sales

The 3,689 housing units sold in the Kamloops area in 2021 made it the best year ever recorded.

“As far as our annual sales performance goes, we’ve had the best year sales-wise in a very long time,” Chelsea Mann, president of the Kamloops and District Real Estate Association said in a news release.

“Our year-to-date numbers indicate that 2021 has smashed all sales records dating as far back as 2007.”

There were only 152 sales in December, a 34.7% drop from 2020, but the price for the average residential unit was up by about 33%, hitting $663,774, up from $501,465 in December 2020.

The average price of a single-family home jumped 34.4% year-over-year to $833,560.

READ MORE: House price assessments increase roughly 30 per cent in Kamloops, Okanagan

Part of the price increase is because of the small number of homes listed for sale. There are currently 714 active listings where the target is for 2,000, the real estate association said.

“As we’ve faced an inventory crunch in the last few months, we’ve had buyers who are willing to pay above the asking price,” Mann said in the news release. “This has led to average prices continually being pushed higher. A reversal in this trend is unlikely in 2022 as demand for properties in the region is set to continue. However, this does not mean that $600,000 is the benchmark price of all property types.

"The Kamloops and district region is one such area in B.C. where we can find a range of properties across all price points. Based on the property-type that one may choose, an average consumer in Kamloops can still find properties to best match their budget.”

Total sales for the year were valued at $2.06 billion, a 50.9% increase from 2020.

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