Welcome to 2015! The resale market turn-around is complete which will lead to more opportunities in new homes. There are significant signals throughout the Okanagan indicating this continued upward trend, namely; reduced inventory leading to a more competitive selling environment, a dramatic increase in sales activity and price increases in all housing sectors.
The following statistical information (MLS year-end listings, sales and average prices from 2007 through 2014) illustrates this trend – note the link underneath. With limited new home introductions the past few years, now is the time to start thinking of taking advantage of this upward trend before the realization that you missed the obvious window.
Inventory Levels Remain Stable: This will have been the second consecutive year that total listings stayed under the 10,000 mark. There were 9,909 active listings in 2014 after 9,696 in 2013. As a reminder there were 13,617 active listings in 2008 after the down-turn. The graph below illustrates this active listing stability. With sales continuing to increase and inventory remaining stable, this should lead to continued price increases.
Sold Listings Exceed 5,000! The 4,429 sales in 2013 was the highest sales year since the 6,196 in the height of the market in 2007. Well, 2014 produced 5,370 total sales, a 21% increase from last year. The graph below illustrates this upward trend in all housing sectors. Somewhat surprisingly, the highest increase occurred in the apartment condominium sector with an increase of 33.1% from last year.
Prices Rising! With average pricing remaining stable the past few years, 2014 average prices increased by 8.4% to $418.857 (see graph below). Prices have traditionally remained somewhat stable however, this overall trend appears to be on-going which will continue unless inventory increases significantly.
The combination of the resale market strengthening coupled with limited new home inventory, now is the time to think about new project introductions. With essentially no competitive influences, particularly in the apartment condominium sector, there is a significant opportunity for new projects now, firstly by taking advantage of the growing market and secondly beating the rush.
There remains significant price resistance in the market for concrete construction, quite simply the cost of construction is too high for the market to absorb it however, with the market continuing to strengthen, there may be some opportunity down the road for the “right” project.
Tactx has already experienced new home sales success, both in product sales but also at higher prices. Tactx is very excited at the opportunities that exist in the Central Okanagan and look forward to new introductions in 2015.