The temperature of the Kamloops housing market stayed hot in August, with home prices continuing to rise.
The average single-family home price in the Thompson-Nicola region cost $706,750 last month, which is a 30.1 per cent increase from August of 2020. The average price of a multi-family home in the region was $387,345, which is up 14.6 per cent from 12 months earlier.
The Kamloops and District Real Estate Association boundaries cover Kamloops, Sun Peaks, Barriere, Clearwater, Chase, the South and North Shuswap, Westwold, Merritt, Logan Lake, Ashcroft, Cache Creek, Clinton, Lytton and Lillooet.
KADREA president Chelsea Mann said demand for Kamloops homes has been “balancing” since the start of spring, but she says some single-family homes are continuing to see bidding wars.
She also said the average home is now selling in 27 days in this area.
“A selling decision often becomes a difficult decision to make in a high demand and low supply market. While a seller may feel that this is a good time to take profits from their home equity, finding a replacement can be difficult,” Mann said.
“Sellers who can get good value for their current home, may find it difficult to find a new home in an inventory-starved market like this one. This coupled with the aftermath of the fires, changing regulations, and an unforeseen upcoming election, may have had a discouraging impact on prospective sellers in the region.
“All of this will change positively, as we approach fall.”
In Kamloops, the average property last month sold for $573,651. That’s up by six figures compared to August of 2020, when the average property cost $472,412.
For the year, between January and August, the average sale price in Kamloops has been $563,800, which is up 19.3 per cent from the first eight months of 2020.
All other regions have seen significant increases in average sale prices. Logan Lake has seen an average price of $380,000 (up by 52.9 per cent from 2020), while the average price in Merritt is up to $417,000 (up 19.6 per cent), Barriere has risen to $446,000 (up 45.9 per cent), while the Chase area, which also covers some communities in the Shuswap, has risen to $647,000 (up 48.5 per cent).
Mann said 2021 is on pace to break the all-time record for number of home sales in the Kamloops area, which she said was last set in 2007. She said a lack of housing supply compared to the number of potential buyers – which has played a large part in home prices surging – will remain a concern for the foreseeable future.
