Kelowna reported total sales dollars of all property types sold on the MLS® in August increased by 36.36% compared to August 2006 according to the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board.

Units sold increased by 15.34% (594 units sold compared to 515 last August.) The number of units listed on the Multiple Listing Service in the Central Zone was also up by 11.74% at 980 listings this month compared to 877 taken in August 2006.

“Housing demand in the Central Okanagan, in fact throughout the province, has been extremely robust over the summer,” says Brenda Moshansky, OMREB Director in the Central Zone.

“Declining affordability had little impact as the empty-nesters traded up, traded down and bought vacation homes and real estate investments.”

“Strength in the economy suggested, earlier this summer, that higher mortgage rates might be seen to year end. However, recent financial market turmoil has since impacted the direction and timing of future interest rate movements. The median residential house price experienced an increase from last month (moving from $440,000 to $450,000) and the average house price reported at $479,714 for July also rose (to $496,511 in August). Although both median and average prices are of keen interest, these increases show that they do fluctuate as they are affected by the number and price of the homes sold in a particular month.”

The Central Zone of OMREB covers an area from Peachland to Lake Country and east along Hwy 33 to Westbridge (including the Christian Valley).

Link: View more details of August's real estate stats. (PDF)