The Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board has released its latest numbers for home sales in the Central Okanagan.
June was the 5th straight month where sales dropped when compared to 2017. In June, there was a drop off of almost 19 percent. In May, the decline was 31 percent.
OMREB President, Marv Beer points to the 3 culprits that have been blamed all year for declining home sales: Spec tax, increased interest rates and tougher mortgage rules.
“In a weird kind of irony, government measures to increase housing affordability are actually having the opposite effect, not just curbing housing demand, but affecting household purchasing power as well,” says Beer. “People aren’t able to qualify for the same amount of mortgage as before, and this, coupled with higher interest rates, means they can afford less, which is likely to be particularly impactful on first time buyers and those at the lower end of the price-range.”
Total home sales are down almost 17 percent in the first half of 2018. Through the first 6 months of last year over 3000 sales had been closed in the Central Okanagan. There have been 507 less sales this year.
On a positive note for sellers, June residential sale prices did increase by almost 8 percent.