Kelowna's housing slump drags on and on

"That's fair, I would call it a slump," said ReMax Kelowna realtor Colin Krieg.

He's referring to the Association of Interior Realtors' 2025 year-end report outlining lacklustre sales and stagnant prices.

"It's the kind of market where sellers aren't willing to bring down prices to the point that potential buyers will accept," explained Krieg.

"As a result, everyone is holding tight. Buyers aren't buying, sellers are selling, sales remain soft and prices remain relatively high."

Krieg said homes that tend to sell quickly are those of motivated sellers -- those that have to sell because of a marriage break up, job transfer or they've put a downpayment on another home and it's time to move.

Otherwise, there's a lot of fence-sitting and hesitation by both potential sellers and potential buyers.

For all of 2025, there were 3,640 residential sales, made up of 1,945 single-family homes, 648 townhouses and 1,047 condominiums.

In 2024 and 2023, which were also considered ho-hum years, the sales were 3,452 and 3,590, respectively.

Sales for the past three years are down 36% to 40% from the 5,667 residential sales in the post-COVID boom year of 2021.

When it comes to prices, the benchmark selling price of a typical single-family home ended 2025 at $1,045,700, down a slight 0.7% from 2024, and off 7.45% from the record-high of $1.13 million set in post-pandemic April 2022.

The benchmark selling price of a typical townhouse in Kelowna in December 2025 was $675,700, down 9.5% from a year earlier and an 18.5% tumble from the post-COVID peak of $829,000 in May 2022.

For condos, the benchmark last month was $470,600, down a scant 0.2% from a year ago and a 15.6% fall from the record-high of $557,700 set in April 2022.

While prices are down 7.45% to 18.5% from their peaks three and a half years ago, the percentage slide isn't as big as the 36% to 40% plummet in sales over the past four years.

Krieg likes to look at the list-to-sell ratio to determine the health of the home sales market.

In December 2025, 12% of the single-family homes listed for sale actually sold, 13% of townhouses and 7% of condos.

"Anything less than 15% puts us firmly in a buyer's market," he said.

"And, with only 7% of condo listings selling, that's not very healthy at all."

By its very name, a buyer's market favours the buyer.

In such a scenario, a potential buyer can shop around and likely negotiate a price discount because there's a slump.

As previously mentioned, the discounts aren't too sharp because seller's want to get as much money as possible for their home and are only really selling if they have to because of divorce, a job transfer or moving to another home they've already put a deposit on.

As such, Kelowna home prices remain what's considered unaffordable in all categories -- single-family, townhouse and condo.

When 15% to 25% of homes listed for sale any given month are sold, it's a balanced market.

Hit 26% to 40% and it's a seller's market, a boom, when homes sell quickly, sometimes for a higher price because potential buyers are clamouring for property.

Rather than use the word 'slump', Kadin Rainville, the president of the 2,600-member Association of Interior Realtors prefers different language.

"Despite navigating a year of economic shifts, policy changes and evolving buyer and seller behaviour, the residential real estate market wrapped up the year on steady ground," he said.

"Activity finishing within the 10-year average range reflects a market that has largely recalibrated and normalized, setting a positive and stable foundation as we move into 2026."

_{Thumbnail photos from Realtor.ca}