We're well under way into 2026. No more excuses for having that Christmas Tree up still, or saying Happy New Year.

It's been a slow start across the province, as unit sales lag the 10 year average as well as year over year. You'll see below, that although we are down in unit sales, the Okanagan region is performing better than the larger areas like Greater Vancouver, Fraser Valley and Chilliwack. I'd attribute this to us having milder climate (less rain) and more affordable price points relative to them. We're still getting lots of migration up from the Lower Mainland, as families look for a lower cost of living but don't want to give up the convenience of the 'big city' lifestyle. 

Note, we're up 2.2% year over year for average price.

New construction is still very slow, with developers getting creative in their incentives for buyers to pull the trigger. One development here in Kelowna, is offering 2.99% mortgage rates (3 year term) and a 5 year price guarantee, where they will rebate the buyer the difference of their purchase price, if the market value has fallen in 5 years time. Yes, there is fine print to that, and I'd be happy to explain if you are curious (reply to this email).

On the flip side, I'm hearing from my colleagues that they've been in multiple offer situations on inventory that's sat for almost a year. That could just be back luck or timing, but I am seeing more buyers coming off the sidelines as they see prices flatlined over the past few months.
 

That's it for now. Let me know if there's anything you'd like me to add to these emails or if you have any questions I can answer. Until next month....