North Okanagan single-family homes stayed above the 20% absorption mark for a second straight month in July — the first time either region has posted back-to-back Seller’s Market readings in any segment this year. Central Okanagan told a different story: unit sales pulled back from June’s record pace, even as dollar volume climbed nearly 14% year-over-year on the strength of high-end and lakefront activity. Both regions are cooling from their spring and early-summer highs. They’re just not cooling at the same speed, or for the same reasons.
Central Okanagan Overview
Central Okanagan came off its best month of 2026 with a routine pullback — fewer sales than June, but still ahead of most of the spring. The number worth noting isn’t the sales count on its own, it’s the gap between it and dollar volume: units sold slipped year-over-year while dollar volume rose by double digits, a sign that the mix of what’s selling has shifted toward the higher end.
Market Statistics
- New Listings: 1,043, down 11.83% from 1,183 in July 2025
- Units Sold: 467, down 2.71% from 480 last year
- Sales Volume: $413,687,776, up 13.82% from $363,471,299
- List/Sell Ratio: 96.17%, compared to 96.69% last year
- Days to Sell: 67 days on average, down from 68 in July 2025 (-1.17%)
- Active Listings: 4,016, down 10.38% from 4,481 last year
By Property Type:
- Single Family Homes: 205 sold | avg. $1,096,945 | median $940,000 | 1,273 active listings | 53 days to sell
- Condos & Apartments: 107 sold | avg. $477,988 | median $440,000 | 787 active listings | 72 days to sell
- Townhouses: 70 sold | avg. $737,851 | median $682,500 | 418 active listings | 66 days to sell
Analysis: Central Okanagan closed 467 sales worth $413.7 million in July — down 2.71% in units but up 13.82% in dollars against July 2025. That combination only makes sense if average price moved significantly, and it did: the zone’s overall average price reached $887,742, up 17.24% year-over-year, while the median rose a more modest 5.08% to $751,300. The widening gap between those two figures points to a handful of large sales pulling the average well above the middle of the market. Lakefront single-family homes are the clearest driver — 13 sold at an average of $2,971,828, up 50.46% year-over-year on a segment that was already thin a year ago.
Single-family homes remained the steadiest part of the market. Sales rose 3.54% year-over-year to 205, the median climbed 2.20% to $940,000, and days to sell improved on both fronts — down from 55 last July and down from June’s 58. That’s a segment moving slightly faster despite fewer competing listings, with inventory down 17.5% year-over-year.
Condos had the toughest month of the three categories. Sales fell 6.96% year-over-year and 9.32% month-over-month, and days to sell stretched to 72, up 7.64% year-over-year. The median price still edged up slightly, but a thinner, slower condo market bears watching if the trend carries into August. Townhouses moved the opposite direction — sales up 14.75% year-over-year and the median up 4.62% to $682,500 — though days to sell also lengthened, up more than 21% year-over-year to 66 days. Buyer interest in townhouses hasn’t gone away, it’s just taking longer to convert to a sale.
New listings fell 11.83% year-over-year and active listings are down 10.38%, extending the supply story that’s defined most of 2026. The one figure that softened slightly is the list-to-sell ratio — 96.17% this July versus 96.69% a year ago. It’s a small shift, but it’s the first sign in a while of sellers giving up a bit more room at the negotiating table.
Absorption Rate:
Central Okanagan sold 467 units against 4,016 active listings in July, an absorption rate of 11.63% — roughly 8.6 months of supply. That keeps the aggregate market just inside Buyer’s Market territory, down slightly from June’s 11.97%. As has been the case all year, the headline number understates the strength underneath it: single-family sits at 16.10%, condos at 13.60%, and townhouses at 16.75%, all comfortably in Balanced Market territory. The overall figure stays soft mainly because the active listings pool remains large relative to any single month’s sales — not because any individual property type is struggling to move.
North Okanagan Overview
North Okanagan’s July was a study in contrast. Single-family homes held onto the Seller’s Market status they earned in June, but nearly everything else in the region cooled sharply — dollar volume dropped more than a fifth from June, and days to sell across the zone stretched out to nearly three months.
Market Statistics
- New Listings: 298, down 23.98% from 392 in July 2025
- Units Sold: 184, down 5.15% from 194 last year
- Sales Volume: $121,051,630, down 8.39% from $132,143,076
- List/Sell Ratio: 96.64%, compared to 96.37% last year
- Days to Sell: 88 days on average, up from 72 in July 2025 (+21.71%)
- Active Listings: 1,503, down 9.07% from 1,653 last year
By Property Type:
- Single Family Homes: 91 sold | avg. $796,993 | median $717,500 | 403 active listings | 73 days to sell
- Condos & Apartments: 9 sold | avg. $319,100 | median $290,000 | 95 active listings | 62 days to sell
- Townhouses: 17 sold | avg. $523,986 | median $417,500 | 128 active listings | 66 days to sell
Analysis: North Okanagan sold 184 units for $121.1 million in July, down 5.15% in units and 8.39% in dollars year-over-year. Unlike Central, the average sale price here actually fell — from roughly $681,150 a year ago to about $657,890 this July. Part of that is a shift in mix: mobile home sales jumped 55.56% year-over-year, while duplex sales fell 33.33% and acreage sales fell 15.79%. That tilt toward lower-priced property types drags the average down even while a specific segment, like single-family, holds firm.
That single-family segment is the story of the month. Absorption came in at 22.58%, up slightly from June’s 22.46% and still solidly in Seller’s Market territory — the first time either region has strung together two consecutive Seller’s Market months anywhere in 2026. The mechanics mirror June: inventory is shrinking (403 active listings, down 4.73% from June) faster than sales are slowing (91 units, down 4.21% from June), which keeps the ratio elevated even as raw activity softens. The median barely moved, up 0.21% month-over-month to $717,500. What did move is speed — days to sell jumped from June’s 57 to July’s 73, a 28% slowdown. A market can carry a Seller’s Market label on the absorption math while still taking noticeably longer to close, and that’s exactly what’s happening here.
Condos saw the sharpest reversal of any segment in either region this month. Sales fell from 17 in June to 9 in July, a 47.06% drop, and the median dropped 10.77% to $290,000. Absorption fell out of Balanced territory entirely, down to 9.47% — a Buyer’s Market reading just one month after sitting at 17.53%. Nine sales is a small enough sample that one slow month can swing the numbers hard, so this is worth monitoring rather than over-reading, but it’s a real move. Townhouses softened too — sales down 22.73% month-over-month and the median down 23.74% to $417,500 — on a similarly thin sample of 17 sales.
New listings fell 23.98% year-over-year, the steepest supply contraction of any of the three property types, and active listings are down 9.07%. Supply is still tightening across the board — it’s just not translating into broad-based price strength this month. Single-family is carrying the entire Seller’s Market narrative on its own.
Absorption Rate: North Okanagan sold 184 units against 1,503 active listings in July, an absorption rate of 12.24% — about 8.2 months of supply. That keeps the aggregate market in Balanced territory for a second consecutive month, though it’s drifted down from June’s 12.99% and now sits close to the floor of the Balanced band. By segment: single-family at 22.58% remains a Seller’s Market, condos at 9.47% flipped into a Buyer’s Market from last month’s Balanced reading, and townhouses at 13.28% held Balanced. The overall number is being pulled down by weakness in condos and townhouses even as single-family moves in the opposite direction.
Month-to-Month Comparison (June 2026 vs. July 2026)
Central Okanagan:
- New Listings: 1,175 → 1,043 (-11.23% month-over-month)
- Units Sold: 492 → 467 (-5.08% month-over-month)
- Sales Volume: $418,347,290 → $413,687,776 (-1.11%)
- Days to Sell: held flat at 67 days
- Active Listings: 4,112 → 4,016
North Okanagan:
- New Listings: 354 → 298 (-15.82% month-over-month)
- Units Sold: 201 → 184 (-8.46% month-over-month)
- Sales Volume: $153,275,191 → $121,051,630 (-21.02%)
- Days to Sell: 74 → 88 (+18.92%)
- Active Listings: 1,547 → 1,503
Both regions pulled back from June, but the shape of the pullback differed. Central’s decline was mild and showed up mostly in unit count — dollar volume barely moved and days to sell didn’t budge at all. North’s decline was broader and steeper, with new listings, units sold, dollar volume, and days to sell all moving the wrong way for both buyers hoping for relief and sellers hoping to keep June’s momentum going. The one figure that didn’t retreat in North was single-family absorption, which is exactly why that segment remains the headline.
Market Outlook
For Buyers: Central Okanagan’s overall market is still technically a fraction inside Buyer’s Market territory at 11.63% absorption, but every individual property type is now Balanced, and the list-to-sell ratio easing to 96.17% is an early sign of negotiating room reopening. In North Okanagan, single-family buyers still don’t have the upper hand — a 22.58% absorption rate with inventory down nearly 5% month-over-month means that segment isn’t loosening up. Condo buyers are a different story entirely: a 9.47% absorption rate is a genuine Buyer’s Market and worth a closer look if the segment stays this soft into August.
For Sellers: Central Okanagan’s 96.17% list-to-sell ratio and 53-day single-family sell time still make a solid case for pricing at market. North Okanagan single-family sellers remain in the stronger position of the two regions on paper, but the jump to 73 days to sell signals that buyers, while still transacting, aren’t moving as quickly as June’s numbers suggested. Overpricing into a slower-moving market is a riskier bet this month than it was last month.
For Investors: North Okanagan single-family remains the value play — a $717,500 median against Central’s $940,000, with the North segment sitting in Seller’s Market territory while Central’s equivalent segment is merely Balanced. The new wrinkle this month is North Okanagan condos: a Buyer’s Market reading at 9.47% absorption on a median that fell nearly 11% in a single month is the kind of dislocation worth watching closely, though the small sample size means it needs another month or two of data before it reads as a trend rather than a blip.
Conclusion
July 2026 was a step down from June for both regions. Central Okanagan sold 467 units for $413.7 million against June’s 492 units and $418.3 million, while North Okanagan sold 184 units for $121.1 million against June’s 201 units and $153.3 million — a steeper pullback by percentage. The one figure that held its ground was North Okanagan single-family absorption: at 22.58%, it’s now produced back-to-back Seller’s Market readings, the first segment in either region to do that in 2026. Year-to-date, Central Okanagan sits at 2,770 units sold against 2,804 last year, a gap that widened slightly from June, while North Okanagan’s year-to-date volume has slipped to essentially flat against last year after running ahead for most of the spring. Inventory keeps shrinking in both regions, but July made one thing clear: tight supply alone doesn’t guarantee rising prices or faster sales. North Okanagan’s condo and townhouse segments are proof of that this month.
Source: Association of Interior REALTORS® – July 2026 Monthly Statistics Reports