Kamloops’ Hot Housing Market Continues in May, Infonews
This article appeared in the infonews.ca on June 3rd, 2016 and was written by Brendan Kergin.

Total sales were up 40 per cent compared to last year, according to statistics collected by the Kamloops and District Real Estate Association, including a 36 per cent increase in residential sales.
The median price for a home in Kamloops was also up, around $405,000, compared to April’s $385,000.
Kamloops isn’t alone with a hot real estate market. In a release, the B.C. Real Estate Association forecasts a record-breaking year for residential sales in the province, partly because demand for housing is outpacing supply as people move into B.C. from other provinces. In Kamloops, residential inventory is down, according to the local association.
Residential building permits were up, though, compared to last May, putting the total number of 2016 just ahead of 2015 in that category.
However, other building permit categories still lag behind 2015 numbers.
The monetary value of commercial permits in May 2016 — $124,000 — was just six per cent of May 2015’s $2 million, with only three permits issued last month compared to 12 the previous May.
In total, building permits in 2016 were worth $43.5 million — more than $33 million behind last year, which hit $77 million in the first five months.
Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales in the province are forecast to climb 12.3 per cent to a record 115,200 units this year, eclipsing the previous record of 106,310 units in 2005. Housing demand is expected to pull back by 8.3 per cent to 105,600 units in 2017. Strong economic fundamentals are expected to underpin the housing market and produce above average consumer demand through 2017. The ten-year average for the province is 83,000 MLS® residential unit sales.
“Housing demand is exceptionally strong across the southern regions of the province,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “Consumers appear to be particularly active in the Vancouver Island, the Fraser Valley and the Thompson/Okanagan regions.“