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With Kelowna’s average single-family home price hovering over $700,000 during a time when household incomes hover around $75,000 per year, it has many people wondering how they can afford to live here.
Now, Im not saying that Kelowna is over priced, far from it based on what you get here in terms of lifestyle. But it cannot be denied that for the average person, affordability in single-family home sector is a challenge.
The Vantage Report released this July showed that there are still three neighborhoods that fit the average budget of a working family without leaving them house poor.
Now, it should also be noted that in the same report you will see that these three neighbourhoods are among the fastest rising prices, so the window of affordability is rapidly closing.
The three neighbourhoods that a buyer can still obtain a nice sized home over 2,000 square feet on a generous sized lot at nearly a quarter acre for right around $500,000 are:
- Rutland
- Westbank
- Glenrosa
Some may be saying to themselves, of course these are cheap, they are in the dodgy neighbourhoods, but that is far from the case these days.
The local municipalities are pouring money and energy into the revitalization of Downtown Westbank and the Rutland communities.
These amenity rich, self-contained villages are bustling with new commercial activity and new infrastructure. Young families and people new to the area are making these areas home, partially due to budgetary constraints and increasingly to do with their walk score and proximity to amenities.
Why does this end up in an article about real estate investment? Well, you’ve been hearing me preach about investing only where the positive cash flow exists for years.
It is in these very neighbourhoods that the best return on your investment can be found. Not only because they are less expensive, but because the rents relative to the price are still quite high.
This means that a savvy investor can still expect to see a double-digit return on their investment and enjoy the best appreciation by purchasing homes like the three examples here.
For an in depth analysis of these neighborhoods and others in Kelowna along with some useful insight into the Kelowna market, heck out the Vantage Report here.
This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
