House prices continue to climb in the South Okanagan

PENTICTON – Housing sales decreased in June in the South Okanagan compared to the same month last year, but the average house price continues to climb.

The South Okanagan Real Estate Board says in a media release housing market statistics from the Canadian Real Estate Association indicate 230 homes were sold last month in the real estate board’s catchment area, down just over 20 per cent from June 2017. The board's catchment area includes the South Okanagan and Similkameen.

The average price of a home continues to climb, however, as June’s average price was $442,480, up 6.3 per cent from June 2017. The average price on a year-to-date basis is $425,763, up 9.2 per cent from the first six months of 2017.

“With supply about as tight as it was way back in the early to mid-2000s, prices are on track for a gain of close to 10 per cent this year," board president Linda Davreux says in the release. 

Although housing supply numbers are up over last year, they are still near all-time lows, with 1,172 listings at the end of June, up 15.1 per cent from the end of June 2017, the board says.

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