I read, with interest, a recent article in the Toronto Sun, regarding the Real Estate market.
It seems that property sales fell sharply in June, across most of Canada, as concern about higher interest rates and tighter mortgage rules cooled activity.
CREA chief economist Gregory Klump, has predicted that with interest rates on the rise, housing affordability and home sales activity are expected to continue to erode over the second half of 2010.
The Harmonized Sales Tax in BC from July 1st, also added to the Real Estate Market’s woes.
There is reason for some optimism, in that long term mortgage rates have dropped, employment remains on a roll and prices have stabilized,” said Douglas Porter, BMO Capital Markets deputy chief economist, in a note.
What is interesting is that our nearest big cities have, up to now, been doing better than Kelowna, however, compared with the same month in June of last year, housing sales had their biggest drop in Calgary, plunging 40%, followed by Edmonton and Vancouver, which fell 35% and 29.5%, respectively.
July 2010 Central Okanagan Real Estate Stats
Type Total S. Fam Strata Lot Manuf
Jul 10 219 122 72 11 14
Jun 10 343 207 97 18 21
May10 384 209 134 19 22
Apr 10 391 217 128 28 18
Jul 09 459 257 170 16 16
As you can see we have had a dramatic fall in Real Estate sales in the Central Okanagan this month.
Of the Single Family Homes sales, 30 were over $600,000, with 11 of those being over $1 million. Within the Strata sales there were only 2 over $500,000, one of which was over $1 million.
The first 3 weeks of July were particularly slow, however, some Agents are now reporting that the end of the month was better.
Apart from the effects of HST, I am particularly seeing potential sales being affected by what seem to be stricter financing rules from the lending institutions and particularly CMHC.
Penalties for paying off mortgages early, are also proving a disincentive.If you are thinking of moving, I strongly suggest checking the closing costs with your lender, before you start the process, to avoid any unpleasant surprises.
Enjoy the rest of the Summer!
We have had some really hot sunny days here in the Okanagan during the last month, and I am pleased to say that we seem to have lots of people visiting the Valley at the moment, which can only be good for the vacation trade and businesses in general.
Enjoy the rest of the Summer!
Kind Regards
Trish Cenci
Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty
Cell 250 864 1707
Web site http://www.mykelownarealestate.com
