Consumer confidence, low mortgage rates mean increase in home sales

KELOWNA – The home sales numbers are out for the Central and North Okanagan from last month, and according to the people selling the properties, it was the strongest September since 2005.

Sales activity statistics from the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board show the Central Okanagan lead the way with a 32 per cent increase in overall home sales compared to September of 2013. Sales were up 25 per cent for the same period in the North Okanagan.

“Reflecting the renewed consumer confidence and demand that began to unfold in the spring, the housing market has maintained a strong upward year-over-year and month-over-month sales trajectory since April,” Real Estate Board president Darcy Griffiths says in a media release.

Griffiths says it’s a sellers’ market in the Central Okanagan with more demand than supply, especially homes priced below $500,000.

“On the other hand, the North Okanagan remains a stable market for both buyers and sellers,” she says. “It’s a buyers market in the higher price category."

The price of single-family homes is fairly stable, although prices of homes in the entry-level price range have risen due to the low supply.

Along with growing consumer confidence, historically low mortgage interest rates are contributing to the up swing in sales, Griffiths says.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infonews.ca or call 250-491-0331. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.