The Kootenay real estate market remained hot in October.
According to the Kootenay Association of Realtors (KAR), sales on residential units shot up 41.6 per cent from October 2019. Despite a drop in supply, a total of 466 units were sold in the East and West Kootenays last month compared to 307 in 2019.
Related read: Kootenay home sales are on the rise
The average MLS residential price in the region was $392,827, a 16.3 per cent rise from $337,667 recorded in October last year.
Total sales in October amounted to $170.4 million, a 64.4 per cent rise over 2019, which stood at $103.6 million. Also, homes were selling faster than usual with the median days on the market at just over 44, compared to 70 days in October, 2019.
“This has been the best October for real estate sales the region has seen in a very long time,” says KAR President Tyler Hancock. “Over the last six months we haven’t seen many COVID-19 cases and even in the wake of a second wave in the province, I believe sales in the region will hit record numbers in the coming months too.”
The number of houses sold in Trail also trended upward over last year with 19 purchases despite a 10-year inventory low of just 32 houses. In 2019, 16 houses were sold, with almost double the amount (61) of inventory.
The residences didn’t last long on the market and were sold within 28 days of listing, perhaps because the average Silver City home price was $250, 947.
Rossland’s market was even more robust in October. Realtors saw 21 residential home sales averaging $467,797 per unit, more than doubling September sales (10), and outdistancing last year’s 12 units sold in the same month.
The housing market began to heat up in June, and has continued to set record levels for five straight months. Across Canada, 402,578 homes were sold in the first nine months, up 5.8 per cent from 2019.
“Many Canadian housing markets are continuing to see historically strong levels of activity as we enter into the fall market of this very strange year,” stated Costa Poulopoulos, Chair of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). “Along with historic supply shortages in a number of regions, fierce competition among buyers has been putting upward pressure on home prices.”
Average selling price in the Kootenays has increased 16 per cent in the past year, and risen consistently over the last six months, while inventory levels suffer.
“We need to make conservative forecasts about average pricing in the region,” said Hancock. “I am sure the realtors here are wary of the fact that inventory levels are very low.
“While that could cause average prices to increase at a rapid rate, it is the strong demand for single-family homes in the region that’s the driving force behind this consistent rise.
“On the other hand, we have added a little more inventory than we had this time last year. With mortgage deferrals ending in October, it will be interesting to see if we add more inventory in the coming months, which could stabilize average prices in the region.”
Year-to-date, Kootenay MLS residential sales dollar in October was $1.1 billion, nearly 24 per cent higher than what it was in October, 2019.
sports@trailtimes.ca
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