Real estate sales are picking up in the Kootenays heading into spring after a slow start to the year, says the Association of Interior Realtors.
In their latest release, the Association says that in the Kootenay and Boundary region, unit sales decreased 43.4 per cent compared to the peak sales activity seen in March 2022 with 189 sales recorded in March 2023 yet up from February’s 168 units sold. There were 403 new listings recorded in the Kootenay and Boundary region in March, down 18.4 per cent compared to the same month last year. The overall active listings in the Kootenay region saw a 35.6 uptick compared to March 2022 with 1,035 listings overall.
That’s still down from March of 2022 but Association President Lyndi Cruickshank believes that the market is recovering from the earlier lack of inventory.
“This is the highest volume of new listings we’ve had for some time now, indicating that we are heading in a positive direction,” said Cruickshank. “While we’re not out of the woods yet, this will help provide more options to buyers and sellers.
“Sales have been picking up since December 2022, and the Kootenay and Boundary region has sold more units than the previous month for the third month in a row. This is a very healthy start to the busy spring season and a sign of heading into a balanced market,”
The Association says the benchmark price, a better representation of value compared to the average or median price as it represents a dwelling of “typical attributes”, saw percentage increases across all home categories in the Kootenay region compared to March 2022, with the highest percentage increase occurring within the townhome category; up 7.8 per cent coming in at $493,300.
READ: Kootenay real estate market returning to pre-pandemic normal
carolyn.grant@kimberleybulletin.com
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