The average single family home price in Kamloops crossed the half million dollar mark for the first time ever last month at $521,587, an increase of 7.8 per cent from the $487,796 level from November 2018.

That’s according to data from the Kamloops and District Real Estate Association (KADREA), who note the median home price last month was down slightly from October’s record level, at $505,000.

Kamloops and District Real Estate Association President Wendy Runge says it is because of a number of home sales in the higher price brackets, that pushed the average price up.

“I wouldn’t expect that this will be the new norm to any degree, but we had you know 13 sales over $600,000, nine over $700,000, and then two over $1-million,” she said. “Combined that with I think a bit of a lack of inventory on the lower priced properties, and that has affected the average price.”

In all, 202 homes were sold in the Kamloops area last month, compared to 209 in November 2018.

As it has been for much of the year, a large number of home sales were within the $300,000 to $600,000 price range – 49 homes were sold between $300,000 and $400,000, 38 homes between $400,000 and $500,000 and 33 between $500,000 and $600,000.

“For the median price, it is very affected by the highs and the lows of the market. So we’ve been seeing the median price right around that $500,000 for quite a few months now,” Runge added.

“November 2019 saw just 51 homes trade hands under $300,000, compared to 70 sales under this threshold during the same month last year.”

Brocklehurst once again had the most home sales with 27 homes, followed by Aberdeen with 19 sales, and Juniper Heights with 15 sales.