Photo: Daniel Hayduk - Castanet

Property sales are down across the Okanagan and Shuswap compared to last year, but sales are up over April 2011.

Sales activity of all MLS property types for May 2011 are down compared to last year -- but up from April this year as serious sellers begin to compete for home buyers moving into spring, says the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board (OMREB).

Vernon was the hardest hit with a 28 per cent drop in total unit sales compared to May 2010.

Unit sales in the Central Okanagan and Shuswap were also down over 17 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.

The Central Zone: Overall unit sales during May dipped 17.6% compared to 2010 (to 337 from 409) but rose 13.87% over the previous month (297 in April 2011).

Sales volumes totaled $133.4 million compared to $168.1 million in May 2010.

Total residential units sold last month were down 16.93% compared to 2010 (to 314 from 378) but rose  5.72% from April  (272).

Inventory continues to decline over last year at this time – down by 5.92% to 5,217 units compared to 5,545 in May 2010 – with new listings falling by 7.97% over last year (to1,212 from 1,317), and down  8.1% from last month (1,031 in April).

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

The North Zone: Overall sales of 123 units for May 2011 saw a 43.02% improvement over the 86 units sold during April – with total unit sales down 28.07% compared to May 2010 (to 123 from 171). 

Sales volumes last month were at $48.2 million compared to $54.6 million in May 2010. 

Total residential sales for May dipped by 27.45% to 111 compared to 153 in May 2010.

Last month’s inventory dipped 3.1%)compared to last May (to 2,627 from 2,711), while new listings dropped 15.82% over the same month in 2010 (to 463 from 550) – down 4.14% from this April (483).

The North Zone of OMREB covers an area from Predator Ridge north to Vernon and Coldstream, and also includes the surrounding areas of Falkland, Enderby, Grindrod, Armstrong, Spallumcheen, Lumby and Cherryville.

The Shuswap Zone: Overall unit sales of 68 in May dipped 13.92% compared to the 79 sold during the same month last year – up 54.55% from the 44 units sold last month (April 2011). 

Total residential sales for the month of May dropped 16.92% compared to the same time last year (to 54 from 65 in May 2010) – a 29.55% improvement over the 41 units sold the previous month (April 2011).

Residential sales volumes were down 21.15% to $11.8 million compared to $19.8 million in May 2010. 

New listings for May (320) declined 8.57% compared to 2010 (350), but rose 6.31% over last month’s 301 units (April 2011). 

Last month’s inventory of 1,689 units was down 9.14% from the 1,859 in May 2010

The Shuswap Zone of OMREB includes the areas of Salmon Arm, Sicamous, Sorrento, North Shuswap and east along Highway 1 to Revelstoke.

The results of OMREB’s Board-wide monthly Buyers Survey – launched in September 2010 to profile who the buyers are, what they are buying and where they are from – shows that the majority of buyers are from within the Board area, and indicates that serious buyers are taking advantage of the current market affordability and leveraging their positive purchasing power and low interest rates while they last. 

First-time buyers are a driving factor and they stimulate the chain of ownership.