‘Pent up demand’: Kelowna real estate ready to explode when interest rates start to fall

When the Bank of Canada finally decides the time is right to lower interest rates, the Kelowna-area market is going to pick up some serious steam.

That was the message from Jerry Redman, owner and managing director of RE/MAX Kelowna, in a recent livestream interview with KelownaNow.

Redman explained that 2023 was a little bit of a struggle for the Kelowna market, but there’s already been a bit of an uptick so far in 2024 and he expects a significant increase in activity soon.

“Once we see interest rates, if they do start to drop down, I do believe we’re going to see quite a busy market start to happen,” he said.

According to Redman, the Kelowna market is starting to see more listings, which means more choice for buyers.

And while some are holding on to the hesitancy that has existed for the past several months amid high interest rates, that doesn’t mean they’re going away.

“If your city is going to be able to handle so many home sales every year and one year you don’t hit that number, those people that didn’t do anything because of interest rates or whatever,” Redman explained. “There’s pent up demand.”

That pent up demand translates into a growing number of people looking to purchase a home, who are all waiting for the exact same thing – interest rates to come down.

Most experts are predicting that the first rate cut will happen at the June 5 Bank of Canada announcement, although Redman believes there’s a chance we’ll have to wait until the July 24 announcement.

Until then, the market is still humming along, Redman claimed, as prospective buyers monitor inventory closely to see if they can score a deal before things really start to pick up.

“People are looking, sitting out there waiting for the right home to come along and be listed,” he noted. “So if you pay attention to the current market conditions, there’s still a really good opportunity.”

Redman discussed all of this and plenty more about the current state of the Kelowna real estate market in his livestream interview, which you can watch in full below.