Real estate listings, sales drop across Kootenay-Boundary region
By Timothy Schafer Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The real estate market in the Kootenay-Boundary region continued to drop at the end of 2023, according to the Association of Interior Realtors.
In the Kootenay and Boundary region, unit sales saw a 13.6 per cent decrease (November 2023) compared to sales activity in November 2022 with 171 sales recorded, down from 203 units sold one month prior.
In addition, new listings dropped by 7.4 per cent in November with 239 new listings recorded in the Kootenay-Boundary region. However, overall active listings in the Kootenay region increased by 8.7 per cent compared to November 2022 with 1,162 listings overall.
“Sales activity within the Kootenay and Boundary region still remains slightly below the average even for the normal seasonal trend,” said Association of Interior Realtors president Chelsea Mann said in an interview, adding that “the increase in active listings will be a welcomed sight for buyers as it potentially provides more options, especially for interest-sensitive buyers.”
Mann said the benchmark price was a better representation of value compared to the average or median price as it represented a dwelling of “typical attributes,” with the benchmark percentage increasing in the townhome and condominium housing categories in the Kootenay region compared to November 2022.
The benchmark price for single-family homes saw a decrease of 2.7 per cent in year-over-year comparisons coming in at $523,400.
“Seasonally, it is not unusual for market activity to soften as we head into the December holidays,” said Mann, adding that “buyers and sellers are still feeling frustrated and constrained by high mortgage rates.”
“The cost of borrowing is creating a disconnect between what is currently achievable for buyers in terms of what they can afford given the interest rate pinch versus what may be their desired expectations, which makes it challenging for some given the lack of affordable supply in many regions.”
Across the entire Interior region, a total of 813 residential unit sales were recorded in November coming in below October’s 977 units sold and representing a 5.9 per cent decrease in sales compared to November 2022. New residential listings increased seven per cent with 1,577 new listings recorded last month.
The total number of active listings saw an increase of 19.9 per cent of total inventory compared to November last year.
