Firestorm?
I received a question by email this morning - and thought there may be other people wondering the same thing...
"In light of the recent devastating BC fires,why haven't we seen significant drop in home prices in the Okanagan area?
It would seem to me quiet a few potential buyers would be reluctant to want to buy in this area and surrounding region."
I think the only answer is based somewhat in our nature as human beings to trust and be complacent. By that - I mean that we tend to think that disasters only happen to other people... and the fact that the fires seem to be all over the province, and other disasters are happening elsewhere - feeds into that feeling of "it will be OK".
Somehow, living in the smoke became "normal" as opposed to the panicky feeling of the first few days.
IF we see people who live in the Okanagan in a panic to List and sell and leave the area - in greater numbers than those who want to move here - then we will see prices drop. Consistently about half of our buyers are moving from within the region across town or to a new city but "Local."
The active inventory of properties available to purchase in the North Okanagan and Shuswap continues to diminish compared to the levels of 2016.
Inventory levels in the Central Okanagan have risen slightly over last years numbers for 2 consecutive months - this MAY be the start of a shift - or it may just be an anomaly- too soon to tell.
Make sense?