Spring 2023 is off to an exciting start in Real Estate! Interest rates were held again and the market is strong with Kelowna beating out Victoria to be the 3rd highest rental rate in the country. Big White Ski Resort is also experiencing one of the best rental seasons to date.
With lots of exciting music events happening like the Alti-tunes Fest at Big White this past weekend and the upcoming Rock the Lake in Kelowna and the many more events that are scheduled this coming spring and summer it is sure to bring in many tourists and people looking to possibly invest in the Okanagan and area. It’s very exciting that this area is where people dream of moving to – we are so lucky to live here.
Kelowna Real Estate Recap
Kelowna’s sale numbers increased last month when comparing to the previous months. “The upwards movement in sales activity compared to the previous month is showing signs that market activity is on its way to recovering from the previous month’s slump, while still maintaining healthy market activity,” said Association of Interior Realtors past-president Lyndi Cruickshank.
This is good news for Kelowna and Big White as a healthy and balance market is beneficial for both buyers and sellers.
The benchmark price rose above 1 million in March with the average being $1,001,500 – an increase from February but a 14% decrease from March 2022. Days to sell has also risen to 55 days on average – nearly double from March 2022 which, as we know, was an unprecedented time.
Big White Ski Resort Recap
As previously mentioned, the resort is experiencing one of the best rental seasons to date. With that in mind, many potential buyers are looking to invest at Big White as the benefits can be tremendous.
March saw a total of 14 sales at the resort, a decrease from 2022’s 25 sales. Even with the lower sales count, if the property is priced right and sought after there will be a buyer looking to commit.
To end of this real estate recap on a fun note, I’ve included some some fun facts from the season at Big White Ski Resort from Michael J Ballingall:
- Events team served up nearly 5,000 cones of cotton candy to over 7,000 eager kids on Saturday at our weekly Carnival night. Over 7,000 new heads donned the famous Big White pom-pom toque, with over 100,000 now sold around the world.
Big White’s food and beverage team served up 35,808 pounds of french fries, 49,971 shots of espresso (2,122 pounds of beans) and 17,263 liters of hot chocolate. Snowshoe Sam’s cooked over 7,500 Smash Burgers! - Visitors enjoyed over 125,000 tube rides, nearly 7,500 people went for a rip at night, and our brand new POWder Card made it into the hands of over 3,000 people.
- Our outdoor operations team parked just under 130,000 cars, and our airport shuttle transported nearly 21,000 people to and from the resort, with the largest day being Saturday, February 25 with 404 people.
- The Kids’ Centre, back for the first season since 2020, served up over 6,000 juice boxes and 1,300 litres of hot chocolate. Nearly 400 kids were dropped off at the Tot Town Daycare, and our Ski & Board School gave out around 2,500 private lessons and over 25,000 group lessons. Our Snow Hosts conducted over 500 free on-mountain tours with over 1,200 guests.
- This season, we saw the return of our weekly events schedule, including Carnival Night, Bingo Night and Trivia Night. We also saw the return of Big Reds – with both nights selling out – and night skiing.
- All 873 Big White team members want to send out a huge thank you to everyone, especially our loyal season passholders and locals, who came to enjoy our Okanagan Champagne Powder! We’ll see you in a few short months for summer – opening June 29 if weather permits
If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me here.
