Local data shows 34 per cent of homebuyers in the Kamloops area in the first three-and-a-half months of this year were people who live out of town.
According to information from the Kamloops and District Real Estate Association, between Jan. 1 and April 18 there were 890 properties sold in the Kamloops area, and 566 buyers were people who already live in this region, or 63.6 per cent. That means 34.4 per cent of buyers, or 324, were from other districts.
From Jan. 1, 2020 to April 18, 2021, a span of almost 16 months, there were 2,467 home sales in the Kamloops area, and 71.8 per cent of sales were to people who already live here.
KADREA includes Kamloops, Merritt, Logan Lake, Ashcroft, Cache Creek, Clinton, Lytton, Sun Peaks, Chase, Barriere and Clearwater and communities in between.
The most recent 15 home sales in Kamloops, as of April 15, ranged in prices from $451,000 to $2,295,000, with 11 homes selling above asking price, three selling below asking and one selling for full price. The average sales price for those 15 home sales was $19,580 above list price.
In March, the average property in Kamloops hit a new record at $568,557, with demand continuing to put pressure on the local housing market. Nearby rural communities are seeing the same frenzy of homebuyers as well.
Local realtors say demand in the local housing market likely will not change for the months ahead, with a number of factors creating upward pressure on the cost of buying property in Kamloops.
While most buyers are local, KADREA president Chelsea Mann said earlier this month that there’s starting to be a shift in that trend to more out-of-town buyers. Further, Royal Lepage realtor Quinn Pache told NL News earlier this month that he is seeing, with some regularity, buyers with equity from the Lower Mainland moving to Kamloops and buying two homes instead of one.
Editor’s Note: This story previously said the dates of sales were Jan. 1, 2021 to Apr. 15, 2021, but it should’ve read Jan. 1, 2020 to Apr. 18, 2021. That information has now been corrected.
