Typical home in Kelowna worth a record-high $915K

The typical house price in Kelowna is climbing ever closer to the magical $1 million milestone.

In June, the benchmark selling price of a single-family home in the Central Okanagan was a record-high $915,100, up from $901,600 in May and $880,000 in April, according to figures from the Association of Interior Realtors.

In fact, over the past year, the benchmark price for a typical fully-detached home in the region soared a remarkable 31.6%.

That means in June 2020, the benchmark price was $698,500.

So, if you live in a typical house, which is generally defined as a well-maintained, four-bedroom home in a nice neighbourhood, your place is worth $216,600 more this year than last.

That technically makes you $216,500 richer.

But, of course, it's all relative.

After all, you would have to sell your house to realize that gain and if you're buying elsewhere in Kelowna you'll have to pay a record-high price.

While skyrocketing house prices are good for homeowners' net worth, it makes it nigh on impossible for lower-income or first-time buyers to get into the market.

A total of 344 single-family homes sold in the Central Okanagan in June, which is 31.8% more than June 2020.

While the numbers are impressive, it's actually a slight cooling from the heady days of February and March when sales were frantic and prices surged ever higher.

It was a perfect storm for a real estate frenzy.

Mortgage interest rates are rock bottom; the actual inventory of homes for sale is low; the pandemic prompted people to buy bigger and better homes; and it also created an influx of buyers with money from other parts of the country to come to Kelowna for the lifestyle.

"The market is still very much a hot market, maybe just not boiling hot anymore," said Association of Interior Realtors president Kim Heizmann, a realtor with Century 21 in Vernon.

"Like the weather this past week, it went from 40-plus degrees to a more comfortably warm 30-something degrees, which is still warm by all accounts."

Activity and prices aren't expected to ease anytime soon.

The benchmark selling price of a typical townhouse in the Central Okanagan was $637,200 in June, up 27.7% over the year.

For a condominium, the corresponding numbers are $459,300, up 23.2%.

"As more and more consumers get fully vaccinated, and with the province in step 3 of the reopening plan, we might see more inventory come on market as anxiety around listing homes may be easing for sellers who weren't comfortable to do so during COVID restrictions," said Heizmann.