Real estate sales in the Shuswap were up in July over the same period last year.
The Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board reports that July 2013 sales activity of all property types improved over the same month last year, but was down slightly from June.
“Following a fairly flat first quarter, the Okanagan-Shuswap has experienced a steady year-over-year increase in sales during the past four months. While some segments are heating up and seeing a turnaround in consumer demand compared to last year at this time – echoing stronger activity province-wide – overall market conditions are still stabilizing in our board area,” said Karen Singbeil, Shuswap realtor and OMREB president.
“July is typically slower than June, and even more so this year, as some areas have seen more impact than others from the Alberta floods – especially the recreation market in the Shuswap and the investment condo market in the Central Okanagan – segments that have also been affected by tighter credit conditions.”
Due to the divergence in OMREB’s three market areas, sales activity tends to vary among property types zone-by-zone, Singbeil cautions.
“Prices within some property types, such as recreational waterfront in the Shuswap, have seen significant adjustments. While unit sales may be increasing and showing a positive perspective, you have to look at prices within property types and sale price trends within different price points to really understand the overall picture of the current residential market.”
In the Shuswap Zone, which covers Salmon Arm to Revelstoke, overall unit sales in July improved by 40.9 per cent to 100 units, compared to 71 in 2012. Year-to-date, 2013 sales (January through July) were up 8.4 per cent compared to last year at this time – to 463 from 427.
Total residential sales for the month saw a 31.2 per cent improvement with 80 units compared to 61 last year.
While new listings taken in the zone dropped 6.7 per cent over last July (to 211 from 226), overall inventory dipped 4.4 per cent to 1,849 from 1,934 during the same month in 2012.