Housing sales continue to rise

KELOWNA – The housing market in the Kelowna and Vernon areas shows no signs of slowing down with sales up fifteen per cent in October compared to the same month in 2013.

Numbers released by the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board show a jump of fourteen per cent in the Central Okanagan and twelve per cent in the North Okanagan.

Board president and Armstrong realtor Darcy Griffiths says the upward trajectory is a result of, “pent-up demand, robust consumer confidence, and a steadily improving provincial economy.”

“We are cautiously optimistic that this trend will carry onward and into 2015 as confidence builds,” Griffiths says in a media release.

The average price of a single-family home in the North Okanagan was almost $373,000 in October, up roughly eleven per cent from the same month in 2013.

In the Central Okanagan last month, the average selling price of a house was up about over seven per cent at just over $497,000.

Griffiths says it’s sellers’ market in the central portion of the valley, especially for homes priced between the $500,000 mark.

“On the other hand, the North Okanagan market remains stable for both buyers and sellers,” she 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.