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VIDEO: Real estate's shocking COVID-19 rebound

When we found ourselves in a pandemic, people braced themselves for a sharp downturn in the real estate market. No-one was predicting we would soon be setting records. But that's what's happened.

July was the best month in the history of Kelowna real estate with 336 homes selling. That's 50% more than last year.

Prices are up too. The average sale in July hit a record of $812,000.

It's shocking. Because realtors like Colin Krieg, admits he was as worried as anybody as we settled into the rigours of the pandemic.

"We had sales coming down 50%," said Krieg. "I was watching it week by week as it was unfolding and it was pretty scary."

<who> Photo Credit: NowMedia

"All of the forecasts were saying, 'you know things are going to slow right down, we're going to have next to no sales' and that's exactly what was happening," he recalled.

"Especially in those two weeks after March 15."

Then it was like the whole industry just went into a holding pattern. "It just came to a giant pause for a couple of months," said Krieg.

And then it's like someone flipped a switch and there was a rebound like nobody expected. "I certainly didn't see this coming," he admits.

"Our average house price last month was $30,000 more than it's ever been before," Krieg said with a look of amazement on his face because August is playing out the same way.

"It's going to be another $25,000 more than it's ever been before."

<who> Photo Credit: NowMedia

He tries to be an optimist, but he never suggested this would happen. "We are breaking records right now."

The one element in the real estate market that's missing is supply. Despite the buyer's market, people remain reluctant to put their properties on the market.

"We're still 15 or 20% under where we should be for listings for sale right now," notes Krieg. "It's the perfect storm with lots of demand and little supply, prices have to go up."

Having failed to predict the mini-boom we're currently in, Krieg is refraining from making any predictions about whether it's going to be with us for long, but he points out that there are predictions that it will be strong for a while yet.

"The BC Real Estate Association announced yesterday they think this is going to hold through into 2021 and continue really strong."



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