By James Peters

Kamloops real estate inventory freeze began to thaw in May

Jun 1, 2018 | 12:44 PM

KAMLOOPS — A tight real estate market in Kamloops is starting to see more homes being put up for sale.

Statistics for May show 583 new listings on the market, a slight increase from the same month in 2016.

Kamloops and District Real Estate Association (KADREA) President Doren Quinton attributes the increase to the unseasonably warm weather in May.

“We definitely had a good month in terms of listings for May. That typically happens when the weather warms up a little bit,” said Quinton.

“We are still sitting about 10 per cent below levels last year and about 34 per cent levels in 2016.”

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Quinton notes with demand still strong and supply relatively low, the market swings toward the seller.

“It makes it challenging for some of the buyers coming into the market as we’re still facing a number of multiple-offer scenarios. So it can be challenging for certain people in the real estate sector but we are improving in that area and we have been seeing a number of new listings coming on in the last couple of months,” he says.

Anecdotal evidence suggests buyers fleeing the Lower Mainland are looking to Kamloops for more affordable accommodation.

Quinton says KADREA will soon have some data to either support or challenge that assertion.

“[KADREA is] just starting to track that and we’ll be the only association in B.C. that does that. Once we get that data, we’ll have a better idea. But certainly we’ve seen a growing trend of people coming from the Lower Mainland, and a number of people coming from Alberta.”