From www.kelownadailycourier.ca
Million-dollar homes selling again in Okanagan
By Steve MacNaull
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Nothing points to an improving economy like the sale of million-dollar homes.
Last year, while the recession raged, it took until May for the first eight $1-million homes to sell in Kelowna.
In a dramatic turnaround, eight homes have sold in Kelowna for $1 million or more in the first two weeks of this year.
“The market has come alive again,” said Royal LePage real estate agent Joy Zsombor, who is responsible for two of those sales.
“When the market crashed, as it did at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009, it takes a while to build back up. The initial activity is first-time home buyers who are taking advantage of depressed prices and low interest rates and buy in the $200,000 to $400,000 range.”
The next group to start buying is move-up buyers in the $500,000 to $800,000 range. These are the purchasers who sold to first-time buyers and now have the money to snag a bigger and better house.
Last to return are the $1-million-plus buyers.
They are the move-up buyers who sold their $800,000 house, people making a lifestyle move to get exactly the kind of high-end property they want and the wealthy who have the confidence again to buy a retirement home or recreational property.
“The economy is improving and homes sales along with it,” said Zsombor.
“This is absolutely a great opportunity to buy up.”
“The biggest price cuts have been in the upper end, so it‘s totally conceivable that you could land a $1.3-million home for $1 million,” said Zsombor.
In Penticton and Vernon, house prices are generally lower.
However, Penticton has recorded a couple of $1-million sales so far this year.
In Vernon, a couple of homes over $600,000 have changed hands.
When the market was red hot in 2007, home sales of $1 million or more in the Okanagan were commonplace as the oil rich from Alberta and the property rich from Vancouver snapped up second, vacation and investment homes in highrises, on the lakes, around golf courses and in snazzy subdivisions and complexes.
As the old saying goes, you don‘t know what you have until it‘s gone.
It‘s true for real estate, too.
When the $1-million buyers dropped out of the market, their absence rippled all the way down the chain, stopped developers in their tracks and pushed prices and sales activity down.
Zsombor became a real estate agent just as the market started to tank in 2008 amid the worldwide financial meltdown.
“Becoming a realtor was something I‘d wanted to do for a long time, so I decided to stick with it,” she said.
“I was told time and time again that if I could make it through the tough market, I‘d have it made. It seems I have, because I‘ve made three sales of more than $1 million in the past two months.”
The first was in early December, when she helped a relocating Victoria couple find their dream home on Dilworth Mountain for $1.28 million.
The view from the house is spectacular, and it has a pool and games room.
Next, Zsombor had a client who wanted to downsize and move closer to downtown from her near-new house in the upscale Quarry subdivision in the Upper Mission.
The client found just want she wanted on Manhattan Drive with a wide-open view of Manhattan Park and Okanagan Lake for $1.245 million, negotiated down from $1.295 million.
That left her view home in the Quarry for sale, which Zsombor quickly filled with a couple from Vancouver who are retiring to Kelowna.
Price: $1.24 million, complete with 4,200 square feet of high-end fixtures and fittings, wine cellar, steam shower, gym and theatre room.
Perennial big seller Jane Hoffman of Coldwell Banker Realty in Kelowna is also in on the action with three of the eight sales of $1 million or more so far this year.
“I‘d say the market has stabilized now and buyers at the upper end are less hesitant now,” said Hoffman.
“But activity is still going to be intermittent because the market is just not what it was in its frenzy of 2007.”
Hoffman is also finding that big-ticket homes are selling equally between move-up buyers who already live in town and out-of-town buyers.
“It means move-up buyers are getting on the lake and shows that locals know the value of living in Kelowna and on the lake.”
She found the buyer for a waterfront home on Lakeshore Road, which ended up selling for $2.375 million, down from the original list price of $2.5 million.
Hoffman was also the listing and selling agent for another lakefront home on Cascia Drive in the Southbay Landing subdivision, which changed hands for $1.93 million, down from $1.998 million.
Hoffman also sold a luxury beachfront townhouse in the Mission Shores complex for $1.37 million. It was originally listed for $1.58 million.
The other $1-million-plus sellers so far this year are:
– A Vancouver real estate agent found the buyer for a home on Okanagan Lake on Pritchard Drive in West Kelowna that went for $1.672 million, reduced from previous settings of $2.249 and $1.899 million.
– A view home on Lucinde Road in Lakeview Heights was sold by Royal LePage agent Anthony Sprovieri for $2.075 million, down from $2.295 million.
– A five-bedroom rancher on Okanagan Lake on Finch Road in Okanagan Centre was sold by ReMax real estate agent Steve Kirk for $1.275 million, down from $1.45 million.