New seasonal real estate report delves into local market; millennial and baby boomers drive demand as home prices rise
Kelowna — Vantage West Realty released today the Okanagan’s first real estate market micostudy, The Vantage Report. In a year-over-year study of Central Okanagan home sales, the seasonal report delves deep into market trends for 15 distinct neighbourhoods.
“Our goal is to release informative, insightful and timely information about the communities where we play, work, worship, raise our children and call home,” says local realtor and homebuilder A. J. Hazzi.
“It’s a passion of mine to study market cycles, track local market influencers and share that information with my team and clients. We invite you to dive in, find the neighbourhood you live in, and watch the trends impacting home ownership in Kelowna.”
Topping the list are double-digit single family home price increases in Black Mountain, Mission and Southeast Kelowna/Crawford.
Hazzi sees the rise in the Kelowna market as healthy growth, driven by good solid economic fundamentals.
“The days of speculation are long gone,” says Hazzi. “Today, we have tight lending rules and locally we have a diverse labour market, with new jobs created in the tech and film sector along with good paying jobs in healthcare and construction.
“Strong inward migration, construction starts, and a healthy first time buyer market is indicative of the early stage of a real estate boom.”
Millennials and baby boomers are driving demand in Kelowna, where housing supply is reaching record lows. Millennials are coming of age and able to buy their first home and driving markets from the bottom up, while retiring baby boomers are beginning to downsize and take the profit on their larger more expensive home and move into one of the many new developments in a lower price bracket.
“We’re seeing demand outstrip supply and bidding wars begin. Many buyers are getting discouraged and giving up, while others are simply being priced out of the market,” says Hazzi. “We’re starting to see the first-time buyer get priced out of the detached home market and needing to opt for townhomes, half duplexes, or condominiums in order to stay under a $475,000 threshold.”
In this first summer report, The Vantage Report looks at the market impact of the lakeshore flooding. Provincial estimate show nearly 15,000 docks that require repair and must meet a stringent process for approval
“With many lakeshore properties previously having private docks and fences built to the water’s edge, this could greatly affect property values as fences are prohibited on crown land, which begins at the high water mark,” he says. “Docks are subject to removal if they do not allow and maintain public access.”
In the investment market, property investors now looking to cash out. Over the last two years, the number of property investors has grow by 40 per cent, driven by out-of-towners as well baby boomers looking to augment their retirement income.
“With thousands of units of purpose-built rentals coming down the pike in the next one to two years, we expect to see the vacancy rate climb and rents on older units soften,” says Hazzi. “Look for prices to stabilize on multi-family properties, which is good news for renters and a sell signal for many landlords.”
The Vantage Report offers in-depth analysis of the communities of Black Mountain, Dilworth, Downtown, Glenmore/North Glenmore, Lower/Upper Mission, Rutland, Southeast Kelowna/Crawford and the University District in Kelowna, as well as West Kelowna Estates, Glenrosa, Shannon Lake/Smith Creek, Lakeview Heights, Westbank, Lake Country and Peachland.
Vantage Report is released to local media and is available from Vantage West Realty or online at thevantagereport.com
