The January 2015 stats are in and I thought I should emphasis that while the media is putting everyone into a scare, perhaps we aren't expecting an economic meltdown due to low oil prices.

 

Kelowna is more diverse than people think. While we used to be known as a retirement area we have seen things change over the past few years. While having a large amount of money invested into Kelowna associated with oil and gas, it is just a small piece of what drives this healthy economy.

 

 

Dont Forget:

 

We have a young tech entrepreneur community growing in Kelowna.

 

We have a huge health sector bringing a young demographic to care for our retirement base.

 

We have a vacation sector where people have bought strictly for vacation rentals or personal vacation use.

 

We have our Oil and Gas workers that choose to drive or fly out of Kelowna instead of the cold alternative of living elsewhere.

 

We have the rest of us, tradesmen, teachers, city workers, service workers, salesmen etc. that make up a vast majority of the 179,000+ growing population in the Kelowna Metropolitan Area.

 

Here are the January Sales stats for the Okanagan Mainland Real Estate Board showing that at least for January we have nothing to worry about.

 

Moving From:
55.1% from Within OMREB Board Area  (down from 59.5% in December)
17.4% from Alberta (up from 15.7%) ***
11.2% from Lower Mainland/Vancouver Island  (up from 9.4%) ***
8.2% from Other Areas in BC (same as December)
4.1% from Eastern Canada/Maritimes (up from 3.5%) ***
2.0% from Saskatchewan/Manitoba (same as December)
2.0% from Outside Canada  (up from 1.3%) ***
0% from NWT/Yukon (same as December)
 
*** Compared to December, more buyers moved from the Lower Mainland/Vancouver Island, Alberta, Eastern Canada/Maritimes, and from
outside Canada during January.

 

Property Type:
28.0% of purchases were by Move-Up Buyers (up from 20.0% in December) *
14.0% by First Time Buyers (down from 18.6%)
11.8% by Buyers Downsizing (down from 17.9%)
9.7% moving from Single Family Home to Strata Unit (down from 11.7%)
9.7% buying Recreation Property (up from 9.2%) *
7.5% buying Revenue/Investment Property (down from 11.0%)
7.5% moving from Strata property to Single Family Home (up from 2.1%) *
2.2% moving into Retirement Home/Seniors Community (up from 1.4%) *
 
* During January, there were increases in purchases by move-up buyers, recreation property buyers, and people moving from stratas
to single family homes compared to the previous month.
 
Buyer Type (Family Dynamic):
24.7% Two Parent Family/Children (down from 25.2% in December)
23.1% Couple without Children (down from 24.5%)
19.6% Empty Nester/Retired (down from 24.5%)
16.5% Single Female (up from 12.2%) **
11.3% Single Male (up from 10.2%) **
4.1% Single Parent with Children (down from 6.1%)
 
** There were more purchases by single females and single males during December, while other buyer categories were down.
 

 

With record low interest rates and low housing inventory, now is a better time than ever to buy and sell Real Estate. Give me a call today to discuss in more detail - David Delorme Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty - 778-821-3885