The average price of a Kamloops home was at $531,000 last month (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

SELLERS MARKET

Pent-up demand from pandemic, low inventory driving high housing prices in Kamloops

Aug 5, 2020 | 4:08 PM

KAMLOOPS — Houses are selling at a rapid pace in Kamloops lately. Realtors say if they are priced right and show well, they’re snapped up within days.

“I’ve been in line-ups, waiting to show homes,” said President of the Kamloops and District Real Estate Association (KADREA) Wendy Runge. “Lots of multiple offers in recent weeks, so that just seems to be the new norm.”

There were 222 units sold last month, 18 per cent ahead from July of last year. Most sold in Brock, Sahali and Aberdeen. The average sale price also jumped up nearly six per cent (5.9) to $531,000.

The pent-up demand from the pandemic has played a major factor in the spike in the price of homes.

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“I’ve been using the analogy, I think in April and May a lot of people entered a big waiting room who were prepared to buy in the spring and then COVID happened,” noted Runge. “When June and July hit, all those buyers flooded the market. It’s been a very busy market.”

Pricing has also been heavily influenced by little inventory available in the city. Buyers have few options from which to choose.

“Yes, inventory continues to be low. It’s continued to be the same thing I talk about month over month. Year to date, the inventory is still down 13 per cent compared to this time last year, so that is what is really driving the pricing at this point,” she said.

Mortgage broker Travis Colman from Colman & Associates says low interest rates — sitting steady at 2.04 per cent for an insured mortgage — have also led to this hot Kamloops housing market.

“They are just driving people to make the decision to buy now,” said Colman. “Kamloops has been really steady through all of the turbulence we’ve had because of COVID. When you look at the way even B.C. in general handled things, consumers are pretty comfortable in B.C.”

Colman adds the consumer debt index, which gauges how comfortable Canadians are with their debt load, is higher.

“Sixty per cent of Canadians, up from about 51 per cent, are happy with the way their finances are right now. They’re more comfortable. They’re in a position where they’re ready to make those decisions, their debts aren’t maybe as high as they once were.”

Runge says until there’s more inventory put on the market, prices will remain high. KADREA says the only other factor that could push prices down is a second wave of COVID-19 in the fall.