About North Okanagan, BC

Fear not Virginia for the Ghost Tours of Vernon will return for two nights this Halloween season to tantalize and terrify you with true ghost stories and traditional tales of terror.

“For Halloween I like to add a few traditional style ghost stories to mix things up. Of course I won’t tell you which ones are real and which ones aren’t,” says host Mr. Gabriel David Sumegi Newman the 2nd who has been conducting his tours for the past six years. “I always love presenting the tours at Halloween, the leaf strewn streets add an ambiance that you simply can’t beat.” Newman is only offering his tours for two nights, October 28th and 29th, so make sure you don’t miss them.

Tours leave from the steps between the Vernon Museum and Library at 7:00pm for the hour and a quarter walking tour. This is also your last chance to see the tours for only $5. Next year the cover charge will rise so if you are frugal act now! No reservations are necessary.

Contact Mr. Gabriel David Sumegi Newman the 2nd,

Paranormal Expert, Entrepreneur, and Purveyor of Medicinal Remedies
250-260-8757
ghosttours@shaw.ca
www.members.shaw.ca/ghosttours

Okangan Real Estate News

What Sold last week in North Okanagan Real Estate (TheOkanganRealEstateHub.com) Twenty one properties changed from active to Sold status in north Okanagan real estate last week. See how sellers faired and where prices were.

Kelowna,BC and Central Okanagan Foreclosure Statistics for September 2009 (Century 21 Advantage Realtor Jason Neumann) There are a total of 57 foreclosures amongst the entire listing inventory. That is an overall change of 1 listing to the total number of foreclosures from September,2009 to October,2009.

Canadian Real Estate News

Real estate: Why new house prices lag old house prices (Globe and Mail) Prices for new houses have fallen 3.1 per cent in the past year, while resale values have increased by per cent.

Mortgage rate hike could cool housing rebound (Globe and Mail) The central bank has said it expects to keep its key short-term lending rate locked at 0.25 per cent until mid-2010 to spur an economic recovery. Chartered banks, however, are finding their borrowing costs increasing for longer-term money, as investors bet that improving economic conditions will eventually bring more inflation.

Fewer listings boost home prices (Globe and Mail) The Canadian Real Estate Association said Thursday 135,182 homes were sold from July to September, an increase of 18 per cent from last year and the most ever sold in the third quarter. Average prices gained 11 per cent to $327,736.

Home prices rise less than expected (Globe and Mail) Over the past year, the biggest annual price increase has been in St. John's, where houses are on average 7.5 per cent higher than last year. It's the 10th month in a row that this city has led the country in year-over-year increases.

Sales hot for condo at heart of Regent Park redevelopment (National Post) Regent Park was built in the 1950s as a social experiment, but became known for its crime and inter-generational poverty. It is being redeveloped into a mixed-income community that integrates stores and the city's regular street grid. "I think that reintegrating the street system and therefore the community into the surrounding community will really help Regent Park flourish," Mr. Blake said.

Toronto helps lead surge in existing home sales (Toronto Star) Existing home sales across Canada climbed to the highest level of any third quarter on record, according to figures released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association.

Economic News

‘Runaway' Canadian dollar puts Bank of Canada in spot (Globe and Mail) Bank of Canada will be under intense scrutiny when it meets next week, given the high level of the currency.

BoC chief in a quandary over interest rates (National Post) Signs of a recovery abound, most notably demonstrated by an "awe-inspiring" rebound in real estate. But the strengthening Canadian dollar has whacked the country's trade sector, which accounts for more than a third of economic output.

A Bounce? Indeed. A Boom? Not Yet. (New York Times) THE sudden rise in home prices suggests that the psychology of the market has shifted substantially. But what should we expect in the months ahead? Not necessarily that we're entering a new housing boom. To a large extent, where we're heading depends on what home buyers are thinking.

Work of 2009 Economics Nobel Laureates Sheds Light on Regulation (Wall Street Journal) The 2009 economics Nobel was awarded to Americans Elinor Ostrom of Indiana University, who became the first woman to win the award, and Oliver E. Williamson of the University of California, Berkeley for their work on economic governance.

FT video: Martin Wolf discusses the winners of the Nobel Prize for economics (Financial Times)

See you online,

Brell ~ Brenda Ellis REALTOR with TheOkanaganRealEstateHub.com @ Century 21 Executives Realty Ltd

(250)550-2161 Direct Dial

(250)549-2103 Office Reception

1-877-227-4073 Toll Free

(250)308-4310 SMS

Century 21 Executives Realty Ltd.

2907 - 32nd St.

Vernon, BC V1T 5M2

Here is an overview of the sales activity in North Okanagan real estate from October 12 to October 18, 2009.

For more details on the homes, lots, acreages, apartments and townhomes that sold please visit our Okanagan Market Stats web page.

Lots and Acreages for sale:

Only a single lot for sale moved to sold status. The sale price of this lots was $ 260,000 with a list price of $289,500. This Coldstream Lake view property had been currently listed for 149 days. Sellers accepted 89.8% of the current list price on this lot.

No acreages were sold in North Okanagan real estate in this time.

Manufactured Homes for sale:

Two manufactured homes sold during the week in the North Okanagan.One was located in Enderby BC and the other in the Municpality of Coldstream. The median sale price of these properties was $117,500 with the sold prices ranging from $112,000 to $123,000 on list prices of $132,900 and $129,800 respectively. This meant sellers accepted 84.3% and 94.8% of list price for an average of 89.5%

Single Family Residential Homes for sale:

In the past week, 11homes for sale in Vernon BC and the surrounding North Okanagan communities moved to sold status. These homes were on the market an average of 98 days and sold for median sales price of $300,000 on a median list price of $314,900. Listing prices for the homes that sold ranged from $169,900 to $799,000 and the corresponding sale prices ranged from $165,000 to $765,000. Unlike the previous few weeks, no sellers realized 100% or more of their list price in the single family home for sale market. On average sellers accepted 94.9% of the current listed price with the lowest accepted price reflecting 87.8% . Five properties sold for less than $300,000 - with 2 of these selling for less than $200,000. In the Over $500,000. segment of the North Okanagan real estate market - only one property sold in Armstrong real estate.

Strata properties for sale:

In the sector of Vernon BC and North Okanagan real estate that includes apartments, condos, and attached, semi detached and detached townhomes, and again 7 properties moved from for sale to sold status during this week. These properties had current listings that averaged 152 days in length which is about 100 days less than the places that sold 2 weeks ago. The middle or median list price was $219,900 and the median sale price was $216,000. Days on the market ranged from 14 to 453. On average - sellers accepted 96.3% of the current list price for strata homes. The amounts accepted ranged from 93.2% to 100.9% of the last listed price. List prices ranged from $97,900 to $1,475,000 with sales of from $93,000 to $1,375,000.

See how this compared to the previous post we did about Vernon BC and area real estate.

For more details on the homes, lots, acreages, apartments and townhomes that sold please visit our Okanagan Market Stats web page.

See you online,

Brell ~ Brenda Ellis REALTOR with TheOkanaganRealEstateHub.com @ Century 21 Executives Realty Ltd

(250)550-2161 Direct Dial

(250)549-2103 Office Reception

1-877-227-4073 Toll Free

(250)308-4310 SMS

Century 21 Executives Realty Ltd.

2907 - 32nd St.

Vernon, BC V1T 5M2

This happens way too often to be a coincidence. Here is a guest post from my team member and broker owner about this bit of real estate mystery:

This is a phenomenon that actually causes a great deal of problems for a lot of buyers. They look at how long the house or property has been listed and assume that there is not real hurry in putting in an offer and then find themselves in multiple offer situations and consequently pay more for the property than they would have if they were not in a multiple offer situation.

Actually, there is a fairly simple and logical explanation for this phenomenon. At any given time there are a number of buyers out there looking for a similar type of property or home.

So for instance let’s say that there is a home in East Hill in Vernon BC in the North Okanagan Valley. This home has 3 bedrooms and is priced at $400,000. Now hypothetically consider a “value Grading system” for houses in this area and price range, at this time. For instance, from a value perspective when this house comes on the market it is graded as #4 compared to its competition.

Then another house is listed that is better value so it is now #5. Now 2 houses sell so it is now #3 on the value grading system. Now 4 more homes are listed that are better value so it is #7 on the value scale.

So this house fluctuates up and down on the value scale for this neighbourhood for 6 months all the while having other homes that illustrate better or lesser value get listed and sell around it. Then - after 6 months of no sale, the houses of better value sell and the house in question slides in to first place on the value scale.

There are 3 people out there looking for this type of house in this price range. Now we have 3 offers on a house that has not had any offers for 6 months.

The house in question simply slides into first position on the value scale. This is also a good explanation for the importance of price in Real Estate Marketing. In other words the only way to increase your value rating is either improve the house substantially or bring down the price.

Many times we list a house and we have no showings and no offers. Then we inch the price down in $5000 increments. After 3 reductions we start to get showings but no offers. Usually one more reduction will bring an offer.

The rule of thumb in Real Estate is that if you are getting showings but no offers you are a little overpriced…if you are getting no showings and no offers you are a lot overpriced. But after all you always have to remember this is just the world according to

Bill.

Bill Hubbard Broker, Owner of Century 21 Offices in the Okanagan. The Okanagan Real Estate Hub - Century 21 Vernon, BC

See you online, Brell ~ Brenda Ellis REALTOR with TheOkanaganRealEstateHub.com @ Century 21 Executives Realty Ltd (250)550-2161 Direct Dial (250)549-2103 Office Reception 1-877-227-4073 Toll Free (250)308-4310 SMS Century 21 Executives Realty Ltd. 2907 - 32nd St. Vernon, BC V1T 5M2