Here is the February 2020 Kelowna Real Estate Review from our brokers at RE/MAX Kelowna. Click here to download the report as a PDF. You can also view past reports here.
Highs of 9 and some sunshine mark a welcome start to the first week of March. It should be safe to say the cold winter is behind us and that the weather we are all used to is right around the corner.
As we welcome the move into a new season, so do other areas of the world, specifically Australia. A recent study by the weather channel stated that a whopping 21% of Australia’s forests burned in their recent wildfire season. With this came the tragic figure that millions of animals may have died and put many on the brink of extinction. What can you do? Castanet Kelowna recently outline what some of our residents are doing to help!
The March 2nd Castanet article highlighted the return of Kelowna’s own Brad Pattison, a local dog trainer and former host of the TV reality show “At the End of My Leash”. Brad and a small team of volunteers spent the last three weeks in Australia working with local animal rescue agencies trying to help as many animals as possible. Brad emphasized the importance of helping these animals before they go extinct. To learn more about how Brad helped this cause and how you might be able to do your part please see the CTV News article published March 1st titled “It’s a global problem”.
After noting this positive contribution to global problems by some members of our community it’s fitting to mention another positive note: housing is doing remarkably well in our marketplace. Units sold (up 8.9%), number of sales YTD (up 16.4%), residential house prices (average up 9.8% and median up 6.5%) and units listed were all up February this year compared to last. Sales of properties below $440,000 declined but all price ranges above this rose significantly.
Our February total active listings also reflected the increase in sales with less inventory than we saw in February 2019. If this trend that seemed to get started in November last year continues, it looks like we are heading into a much more positive Spring for 2020!
There is much on the horizon ahead. The BC economy continues to lead the country and problems that pop up somehow always seem to find solutions. Spring is a wonderful time to plan and to make good things happen. Plant that garden, upgrade your home or even downsize, or start that seasonal maintenance project. There is lots to do and there is no time like the present to get things started. Happy Spring everyone!
— Daniel Daniluck, Managing Broker