" Kamloops has the stability that much of BC lacks right now "
The reality is, overall, the Kamloops Real Estate market is stable, desirable, and prime for investment opportunity.
We have always been confident in our market, but it really started to sink in when we recently attended the "Real Estate Trends" seminar put on by 30-year Real Estate veteran, Professional Development Program instructor, and GM of Prompton Real Estate Services in Vancouver, Richard Collins. This particular course outlined some of the trends and changes that we can expect to see in our local Real Estate industry. It was pleasantly surprising to hear Kamloops referred to as "the Hawaii of British Columbia" in regards to our unbeatable climate (Accuweather posted a high of 21 degrees yesterday), unlimited resources for recreation, and of course friendliness.
It was further interesting to learn some of the major contrasting qualities we in Kamloops have to other neighbouring municipalities in BC, one example explaining that some areas have lower taxes but can't afford to upgrade to the proper water and sewer systems needed to expand and facilitate their growth. The most important topic in our opinion, was one that highlighted our vacancy rate and how outrageously low it is. In fact, The CBC just released a radio interview featuring the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) announcing, "A year ago [the vacancy rate] was 2.3 percent. More people are migrating to the area, the rental vacancy rate is falling". It should be noted that the vacancy rate the CBC are referring to is based on apartments only, while the vacancy rate listed in the attached PDF of the Canadian Real Estate Wealth (CREW) magazine article accounts for rentable units, basement suites, and all other rentable dwellings throughout the city. Good news if you're a homeowner, the interview also forecasts vacancy rates to drop to 1.7 percent.
Here is the link in case you missed it.
Other than the obvious interest from the coast and prairie regions, and factors like appealing housing prices with an above average climate, Kamloops is gaining noteworthy interest from commercially trusted publications, which is essentially "putting us on the map". Western Investor recently named Kamloops as #1 in the "Top 5 centres in Western Canada with most potential Real Estate returns in 2017" Click here to read the article.
So, what does all of this mean ? Well we can't predict the future, and markets are subject to change due to economic influence, but it seems that people are looking from near and far and are seeing that Kamloops is standing on a pretty sturdy foot with its low vacancy rate, high cap rate, thriving local industry, and actively expanding Thompson Rivers University. Click here to see "The Reach Community" concept and Click here to read about the approval for the 30-million dollar industrial training and technology centre.
If Kamloops is truly the Hawaii of British Columbia, just call us The Hough Kahunas of Kamloops Real Estate.
Copies of this issue of the CREW magazine can be found and purchased at your local Chapters or Shoppers Drug Mart