Remax predicts Kelowna home sales and price increases will slow by the end of 2022 – Kelowna News
Photo: Ed Burke / Castanet reader gallery
A new report by Remax suggests home prices might only rise about five per cent in Kelowna this year.
The 2022 Small Markets Report analyzed home sales and price trends in the fastest-growing small Canadian housing markets, which are defined as those with the highest population growth rates in 2021, and having a population of less than 440,000, with secondary markets below 100,000.
A Leger online survey of 1,525 Canadians found liveability (40%) was the major factor in choosing to buy a home outside major cities, slightly ahead of affordability (37%).
Remax also surveyed agents and brokers in dozens of markets across the country. Those findings suggest Kelowna will see a year-over-year price increase of five per cent, but the volume of sales will slow by ten per cent in 2022. The average price for a single-family home by the end of the year is expected to be $1,013,447.
However, stats from the first quarter don’t show evidence that the super-heated market is cooling. The average residential sale price jumped 29% and the number of sales by 38%.
While the west is still popular, the hot spots for smaller markets in 2022 will be in eastern Canada, according to Remax. The largest jumps in unit sales are predicted in Carleton Place, Ontario (+25%), Truro, Nova Scotia (+25%) and Woodstock, Ontario (+20%).
The forecast says the highest unit sales increase in BC will happen in Cranbrook (+15%), while it calls for a slowdown in Chilliwack (-17.5%).
The report notes that over the past few months regions in Western Canada have seen stronger buyer confidence and less urgency to purchase a home. “This has resulted in fewer bidding wars and signals that the market is beginning to settle; however, it is too early to predict indefinitely. “
The Leger survey also found that more than a quarter of people living in larger markets (28%) would like to move to a smaller market in the next two years and a quarter (25%) of those polled in both larger and smaller markets have received family support to purchase their first home.
The online poll was conducted between March 25-27 and a probability sample of the same size would yield a margin of error of +/- 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.