By James Peters

Real estate market strong, but slowed by unprepared prospective buyers

May 1, 2017 | 2:46 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Kamloops residential real estate market had another good month in April, up two per cent over the same month in 2016.

But Kamloops and District Real Estate Association President Cyndi Crossley says those numbers could have been even higher had some buyers gone through the right steps before putting in an offer.

Crossley says almost daily, the association hears about deals that have fallen through because buyers haven’t secured financing before making the decision to buy.

She notes prospective buyers should visit a mortgage broker first to be pre-qualified for financing, even before visiting their real estate professional.

“That makes a huge, huge different to avoid disappointment not only for the buyers, but for the sellers as well,” said Crossley.

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Not having the proper financing in place can result in a pair of possible outcomes, neither of them positive, according to Crossley.

“You could either fall in love with a place and find that you simply don’t have the monthly income that is going to support your decision to purchase a house, or you may be settling for something whereas you’re actually able to come up just that little bit.”

Only 1500 homes have been listed in Kamloops so far in 2017, a marked decrease from the same period last year.

Crossley says that swings the market in favour of the seller, but not as much as one might think.

“It does mean that the homes will not stay on the market as long. Will they get more for them? Not necessarily so.”

Crossley adds higher end homes are moving at a brisk pace.

“There are 34 homes that sold that were listed on the $600,000-plus side. That is a really good number for Kamloops. It just shows that those homes that are listed at $600,000-plus are starting to sell just that much faster.”

The activity at the high side of the market tends to trickle down to induce movement throughout the entire sector.

“Those that are ready do downsize, or retiring. The millennials that are starting to come up,” said Crossley.