For the first time in at least five years, the benchmark price of a single-family home in the Central Okanagan has fallen for the third month in a row. The Association of Interior Realtors released its July report on Friday, and it contained even more evidence that the housing market has cooled significantly in recent months, after running flat for most of 2021 and early 2022. The reported cost of a single-family home in the Central Okanagan last month was $1.06 million, representing a relatively large drop of 4.7%. The benchmark hit an all-time high of $1.13 million in April, but has now fallen for three consecutive months for the first time since at least early 2017. AIR said the market in July simply returned to pre-pandemic activity, noting that last month there were 1,196 residential unit sales across its region. This represents a 33.3% decrease from July 2021. “Seasonally, it’s not unusual to see a dip in sales over the summer, although property buying activity in most areas of the province was below average last month, not just domestically,” said AIR President Lyndi Cruickshank. a press release. “A number of factors, or even a combination of factors, such as interest rate rises, the resumption of travel and the school break, could all be reasons why consumers were forced to put their property plans on hold as they focused on enjoying their hot summer days. “ Another reason for the drop in prices and sales is likely the number of homes available. There were 56.8% more listings across the AIR region in July compared to the same month last year. There were 92.1% more listings in the Central Okanagan compared to 12 months ago. “We are seeing inventory starting to build up, slowly moving up to healthier inventory levels, which is a welcome relief for prospective buyers,” Cruickshank said. “However, higher mortgage rates are still weighing on the housing market, with some homebuyers finding it harder to qualify for mortgages.” The benchmark price of a single-family home in the North Okanagan also fell in July, from $798,500 in June to $774,400 last month. This price has fallen over the past two months, marking the first time it has declined since April 2020. The cooling market did not affect the Central Okanagan benchmark home price, which rose 2.6% in July to $783,500. Photo: Contributed