Kelowna among top emerging real estate markets in Canada

Kelowna’s sky-high real estate market may be old news for people who live in the area, but it’s been named one of the top three emerging real estate markets in a report released on Tuesday.

An online real estate investment marketplace, Fundscraper, says it analyzed key performance indicators such as population, GDP per capita, employment, income, and housing prices, to determine which Canadian cities showcase the most promising growth and investment potential.

Kelowna came out on top while Saskatoon, Sask., and Barrie, Ont., rounded out the top three.

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“The national discussion around real estate tends to focus almost exclusively on Toronto and Vancouver, with the occasional mention of other large cities thrown in. But while these markets continue to thrive, they are becoming increasingly expensive and perhaps unaffordable to a growing segment of those looking to invest in, or live in, these cities,” Luan Ha, CEO of Fundscraper said in a press release.

“Fortunately, Canada has many smaller markets with high-growth potential that offer solid fundamentals and well-priced investment opportunities. In particular, Kelowna has emerged as one of our markets to watch, due to its high employment rate and strong construction and healthcare sectors.”

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They claim these things aren’t poised to change, noting that Kelowna has 1,411 construction and development businesses.

Additionally, Fundscraper said the region has a strong retail sector and a robust healthcare economy, focused on both services and research and development.

In the summer of 2021, the median price of a Kelowna single-family home topped more than $1 million for the first time, according to a survey of listings from Royal LePage. That was up more than 22 per cent from a year earlier.

The median price is the mid-point valuation of all the homes sold, rather than the average.

According to BC Assessment, Kelowna’s 2022 typical assessed house value as of July 1, 2021, now sits at $869,000, which is a 34 per cent increase from $650,000 in 2021.

West Kelowna homes have a typical value of $856,000, up 34 per cent from last year’s $632,000 assessment and Lake Country now has a typically assessed value of $886,000, up from $672,000, which is an increase of 32 per cent.