The Market

New listings and price reductions now dominate the daily MLS. The ratio of sales to listings and reductions is striking.

It seems buyers are sitting on the fence until there's more certainty about the economy - job security. The housing market is like dominoes - a first-time buyer purchasing a condo allows the condo owner to move up to a townhouse. Both still need mortgages. And on and on up the chain it goes, eventually to the seller who no longer needs a mortgage to purchase. This is the type of buyer we often see in the Okanagan - many of them are now waiting for their homes to sell in order to buy here.

So this month and the fall are setting up to be a consequential indicator of what's to come in the housing market. The federal government and provinces are moving forward to strengthening intra-provincial trade and solidify trade connections with other countries while navigating through the demands of Donald Trump, hopefully bringing some clarity as to what the future holds. 

In the South Okanagan it seemed every 10 years the housing market hit a peak then would start to gradually slide. It happened in 1988/89, then nine years later in 1997/98, again in 2007/08 and yet again in 2017/18. It was like clockwork.

As happened throughout the world, people flooded out of large cities to smaller communities, upending predictable market cycles and accelerating market values. Subsequent high interest rates cooled that surge but, as rates come back down, the market in the South Okanagan has been responding. 

Now that the threat of the United States imposing tariffs is coming to fruition, and job security becomes front and center for many Canadians, the anticipation is market activity will slow or even pause. A further drop in interest rates may offset that but only time will tell. 

BUYERS: If you're buying and you're confident that you won't be negatively affected by economic changes, the next near- to middle-future could be a great opportunity to find that ideal property. 

SELLERS: As a seller, if you absolutely need to sell, see the next little while as a window of opportunity to attract a buyer in what could be a shrinking pool of qualified buyers. Price sharply, this is not the time to 'test' the market.