Photo: The Canadian Press
We recently received a notice that said Canadian real estate is on the rise again. Although those statistics are true, they are irrelevant because of a basic premise of real estate.
Real estate is incredibly local. A good example of this is that within the Okanagan Shuswap there are multiple markets. Salmon Arm is different than Sicamous, Vernon is different than Kelowna and so on. These centres are all doing very well, but it would be inaccurate to make a blanket statement about them all together.
What it is really saying is that Vancouver and Toronto are doing well again. Approximately 70% of the sales in Canada are in Vancouver and Toronto. Therefore, if Vancouver and Toronto are going into recovery, the statistics will say all of Canada are going into recovery, which is just not true.
This becomes more ridiculous when people think their house is worth more because the news is saying that Canadian real estate is rising. Even though statistics may be true, that does not make them relevant.
The reality is that the Okanagan Shuswap real estate market is balanced and doing fine.
Bill Hubbard is a real estate broker and the owner and broker of a four-office real estate firm in the Okanagan-Shuswap. He has been in real estate for 28 years and has been an owner and broker in Vernon for 20 years. At almost 60 years old he is just as passionate about real estate as the day he started.
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