November 2020 Housing Market Update

The Kamloops And District Real Estate Association (KADREA) reports that a total of 262 residential unit sales were recorded by the Kamloops & District Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in
November 2020. This is nearly 40% above the numbers that were recorded in November 2019. The average MLS® residential price in the area was $486,376, a rise of 10.7% per cent from $439,304 recorded the previous year. Total sales dollar volume in November stood at $127.4 million, a 54.3 per cent rise over 2019, which was $82.5 million. There were 264 new listings recorded by the MLS® last month. Sales numbers continue to be high in the region due to the pent-up demand caused after the initial Covid outbreak. Compared to last month, the market has slowed down a little, however, this has been by far the best November in terms of units sold in the last decade. Also, this is the first time in 2020 that we’ve surpassed our year-to-date 2019 sales numbers. This means that although we have seen record breaking sales numbers monthly since June, we had been lagging behind because of the sharp drop we had in the early spring. This shows that the Kamloops region has been attracting a lot of buyers and despite the spring slowdown, the real estate market here has been, statistically, unaffected throughout the pandemic.

As we approach the new year, the projection is that the Kamloops market will continue to thrive on high demand in 2021. In the wake of a second Covid wave and as we approach the holidays, we will expectedly be recording fewer sales over
the next month, but factors such as low interest rates, high demand for single-family homes, and a rising average price will hopefully aid the slow path to a full market recovery in 2021. Thanks to the resilience shown by Kamloops Realtors® and
other real estate stakeholders, we are prepared to work through any phase that may hinder real estate operations next year.

The market will continue to be affected by low supply into the new year as the remarkable demand has brought down the cumulative inventory levels to all time lows throughout all of 2020. Due to the continued lack of inventory, the average prices have risen by double digits throughout BC. I think that in the new year, people wanting to sell their homes will feel more at ease to do so as we’re seeing more of a light at the end of the tunnel with all the uncertainties that we faced in 2020 starting to ease. This should help our inventory levels bounce back and while still likely being a Seller’s market for quite some time as the demand is still pent up, we should see the market trending towards being more balanced by the end of 2021.