Interior housing market starting to show signs of life after slower 2024

Photo: The Canadian Press

Association of Interior Realtors is seeing signs the housing market might be returning to normal after a year in which sales and values mostly decreased.

There was the usual December dip compared to November, but the number of sales in the Interior were well ahead of last year at this time. There were 716 residential sales last month, which was up more than 30% compared to December 2023. There was also an increase in listings compared to 12 months ago.

“Overall, sales in December reflected the type of activity we usually see for the time of year, which is generally one of the slower months given the holidays typically putting a temporary pause on many homebuying ventures,” AIR president Kaytee Sharun said in a press release.

“Listings in the last quarter did see a decent spurt of activity, which should make for a fairly decent hand-off for the new year in providing potential buyers more options.”

There were 3,893 sales in the Central Okanagan over the last 12 months, which was down from 4,035 in 2023. The total value of sales in 2024 was $3.15 billion after hitting $3.36 billion in 2023.

Benchmark prices dropped in eight of 12 housing categories across Central, North and South Okanagan, and in Kamloops, compared to November. It was the same situation when compared to last December. The only categories in which benchmarks increased compared to December 2023 were Central Okanagan single-family ($1.024 million) and townhouse ($746,400), North Okanagan single-family ($756,800) and South Okanagan single-family ($760,100).

“While inventory levels are currently healthy, it remains to be seen whether listing activity will sustain its momentum in the coming year, which could help mitigate potential upward pressure on prices,” Sharun said.

AIR represents the Okanagan, Kamloops and Kootenay regions, as well as the South Peace River region.