Kelowna General Practice Blog

Even though residents of the Pacific Province continue to love their R&R, sales are down when it comes to recreational homes. In fact, recent statistic show the sales of recreational property in British Columbia are down more than 22% over the same time last year. Low inventory, however, has been keeping prices steady.

The most popular area for recreational property sales in the province continues to be in the central Okanagan Valley. Prices for single family residential homes in the area have decreased by about 3% over last year. The average home here is about $640,000. Even though sales are down, buyers from other provinces as well as international purchasers are still enticed to the area. Many more millennials are choosing to purchase in the Valley since prices are more affordable than they are on the coast.

Buyers are finally getting a break when it comes to purchasing a home. There are more affordable homes on the market when it comes to residential real estate in Kelowna, British Columbia. Despite other areas still feeling the slump, homes in the $500,000 area or less are beginning to move again by an increase of about 10% as opposed to the same time last year.

The pickings in this particular price range are slim, so buyers have been quick to snap them up. While Kelowna homes listed in excess of $1 million are sitting on the market for about 95 days, those in the lower price range are taking about 56 days to sell on average. As a result, there seems to be a glut of higher-end homes for sale in the area.

Vancouver mansions are being rented out to students for what amounts to a paltry pittance. There is nothing in real estate law that says anyone has to charge a certain rate for rentals, and rooms in some of British Columbia's most luxurious homes are being rented to students. But when the upwards of $1,100 for each room is added up, landlords aren't doing too badly. Students, however, aren't complaining.

Landlords are renting these rooms in vacant homes to avoid paying the new tax which is slapped on an owner for a home that sits vacant. Chinese investors are pulling out of the market and these homes are getting low-ball offers, so owners have turned to students to fill a void. According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, prices in the city are down more than 8% from a record high last June. 

The federal Liberal government hopes its 2019 budget paves the way for more people to be able to afford homeownership. Buying real estate for the first time in British Columbia has been unattainable for many due to the federal government's mortgage stress tests rules. However, the new budget, through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) will help keep some purchasers' monthly payments lower by advancing them up to 10 per cent of the purchase price of a home. Buyers will need to have at least 5 per cent of the home's price as a downpayment.

In order to qualify, a purchaser's total household income must be less than $120,000 per year. CMHC is set to dole out more than $1 billion in incentives over a three-year period beginning this September. Homebuyers should know that this is a loan and will ultimately need to repay the money,  but how that is to take place is yet unclear as is whether these loans are interest free.