The Regional District has decided to implement an affordable housing project in Naramata BC. A first of its kind here in the South Okanagan. Naramata is a very desirable place to live. Home to many vineyards and wineries this quaint town has a charm of its own. In the small downtown we will see 18 townhomes come up for sale. The Regional District defines affordable housing as “10% below appraised value”. There will be a covenant on title stating that each preceding owner must sell the units for 10% below the currently appraised value for 7 years. The Regional District also holds the first right of refusal to ensure the prices remain “affordable.”  This will be located on Ellis St across from Naramata Centre.

These Naramata homes will be 3 bedrooms or 2 large rooms and a den up, 2 baths up and 1/2 bath down. Equipped with en suites and walk in closets, an over-sized single car garage and visitor parking. The units should be about 712 sq ft per floor for a total square footage of 1424 with a full unfinished basement. Boasting 9ft ceilings and flooring includes laminate, and carpet. The complex will be family and pet friendly, rentals allowed. The units should be comparable to Skaha Bluffs at the South end of Penticton. This project will be built by Wildstone a well known, reputable local builder.  Disclosure should be filed soon, ground has been broken (leveled off) and the name as of today should be “Naramata Court.”  Estimated price point should be mid $300,000′s after the 10% reduction. Schoene appraisals will be doing the appraisals.

Royal LePage Agents and a Lawyer

Even if you are not an avid golfer you can’t get away with not golfing when you are living in Penticton BC. Last Friday I was asked to gather some Royal LePage Agents to fill the last spot in the Pathways tournament. Texas Scramble! Golfing for charity….I’m in! I put together my dream team which included Jodie Taylor my favorite Real Estate lawyer, Steve Thompson, Steve Janzen, and Andrea Agur all REALTOR® at Royal LePage. It was nothing short of a blast!

Yoga at the Golf Tourney

Most of the Charity Golf Tournaments I have attended have been hosted at Skaha Meadows, this one was at Sage Mesa Golf Course, and I am sure glad it was. The views were amazing.  Sage Mesa is set up on the Westbench overlooking Okanagan Lake, the few short hours on the course felt like a staycation. We lucked out and booked the last of the golf carts, had some tunes and a cooler full of beverages. Dinner was hosted at another Golf course on the Westbench called Pine Hills Golf Course. Pine Hills is always a favorite course as it is open late and has cheap green fees. The view is lake to lake and a must see! Check out a full list of Penticton Golf Courses!

This is an annual family event celebrating the Subaru Ironman athletes and their families, the community of Penticton and the downtown businesses. There are three stages, 15 live acts, a video dance screen, 70+ vendors, children’s games and activities. It is hosted in the 200,300 and 400 block of Main Street the Friday evening before the race. Book your calendars for August 27th and come on down to Royal LePage’s Ironman Street Dance.

This event is absolutely free! A core value of Royal LePage, the giving back to the community!

I personally volunteered to represent the Royal LePage Realtors working closely with the downtown association to put on this fabulous evening. Historically this event draws nearly 8,000 people. I am looking forward to the live bands and dance screen. You may even see me MCing!!!

Finally made it to Lakebreeze for a wonderful lunch. Okay so wonderful is an understatement. It always turns into an adventure when you take a good friend/business alliance to one of the coolest wineries in Naramata. Not only can you watch the progress of the new building going up you can’t help but enjoy valley and lake views and  the lunch location is also dog friendly! I didn’t bring my dogs (Merl & Karma) -  around food and fine wine the 80 lb mutts can’t be trusted but feel free to bring yours!

I met up with Kelly Hood, a fabulous local designer who comes to her hometown to accommodate her staging and design clients of the Okanagan. She is currently living in Vancouver but needs a dose of the Penticton on a regular basis. I highly recommend her if you are thinking of spicing up your home, getting it ready for sale or can’t agree on colours with your significant other. Sometimes we trust our own instincts and like one colour a little too much,  like my mother for example. She redid the living area and chose white carpet, white paint with a hint of green and the accent wall…..wait for it….. white with a hint of pink!  When it was finished she was surprised at how white it all was….  Kelly would have  been a perfect match! After that experience I always recommend hiring a professional it’s a lot cheaper than repainting/flooring a large room! Ask me about my free staging program when you list your home!

Our server was Carmen, another Penticton homegrown, she was fabulous and recommended a salad that I can’t stop thinking about. I should have taken a picture for you all to see! I know that if you try this winery your will be 100% satisfied. The tables are equipped with umbrella’s for those of you who don’t need a tan and there are blankets in case the wind picks up so you can stay nice and warm. The food is to die for and the wine is award winning.  We took the opportunity to sample the whites and reds before our lunch so our beverage decisions were well educated before hitting up the patio for lunch.

Lunch at Lakebreeze

We finished up the afternoon by stopping in at Hillside winery for a quick wine tasting where we ran into a large group of tourist tasters.  Both locals and tourists get great service but the hosted tour groups really get an in depth explanation of the wine  history and grape varietals. We purchased the Gewürztraminer and Muscat. Hoping this years is as good as lasts. Hillside Winery also features a restaurant- I will need to further my blog with a review before the summer is over. Don’t miss your wine tasting opportunities while you are in the Okanagan!    Click Here for  a list of local wineries and maps.

Alysen Place

Alysen Place homes to Auction on Saturday, August 21st.

The announcement came  back on June 26th. Since there have been 3 firm sales and this Saturday we will see what is left.
Are there some deals to be had? Take a look at the current pricing.

There are a few different floor plans to choose from. To explore the different floor plans click here.

Have a look and give me a call with any questions. I have also included our Alysen Place – How to Buy at Auction Information Package.

If you have any questions please call right away to learn more about this unique event.

Just a quick link if you want to know whats going on with the new power poles being installed.  I grew up in one of the neighbouhoods that is going through the change and wanted to pass along this information for anyone who is interested.

Click here for the current petition.

As most people in the world know Duncan Keith is from Penticton!!! I went to school and graduated with Duncan and it really hits home with all his successes. For those of you who don’t know the local super star you have an opportunity this satuday to see him with the cup!

July 12 2010 Penticton suffered from a severe wind storm. One of the 3 Lakeshore Towers, also known as the Lakeshore 3 experienced an interesting event.

One of the 2 Southerly  Lakeshore Towers (160 Lakeshore or 75 Martin St) lost a window from the top floor. A penthouse window was sucked into the Okanagan air! The 15th floor south facing unit had an exterior window pane that previously had a fracture, as a result of the storm the exterior window was sucked right from the building. The strong winds coming from the north acted as a vacuum and the window came falling down 15 stories and landed on a Subaru in the RDOS parking lot. Thankfully no one was injured. Last week we had humid hot weather and this week a small turn of weather events.

The Vancouver Canucks Young Stars Tournament will begin on September 12 and will feature a number of notable NHL prospects from the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks. Tournament packages, which include a ticket to each of the eight games, are available  starting at $66 + fees. The first 1000 fans to purchase a tournament package will also receive an exclusive pass to the Canucks Veteran’s Training Camp, providing them with reserved seating and priority access to the Veteran’s Camp. Tournament ticket packagesare currently being sold. Get yours online or by phone at 1-877-763-2849 or in person at the South Okanagan Events Centre box office.

Single game tournament tickets will be made available in mid-August.

All on-ice sessions for Veteran’s Camp will be open to the public, free of admission.

It’s that special time of year again, home shoppers have plenty to chose from and as a result are putting pressure on local home prices. Penticton however is a little piece of paradise holding its own as we crunch the local numbers.  HST is now in place and new construction starts are at an all time low. Historically July and August shows a slowdown in the real estate market compared the the previous few months. The British Columbia Real Estate Association’s June 2010 Housing Forecaststates “the average MLS residential price in the province is forecast to increase a further 6.2%  this year before remaining relatively unchanged.”  Their reasons: stronger economic and employment growth.

 According to the South Okanagan Real Estate Board for the month of May 2010 there were

• 155 new active listings (224 this time last year) Statistics released by Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) show that homes sales activity and new listings in Canada declined in May right accross the board

• 89 units sold (85 last year)

• Homeowners will like this one……average sales price this year $344,894 compared to last years’  $318,301 this is an 8% increase over last year*

• Days on market has shortened to 88, when last year it was 111

*Although the average sales price is up, I feel that with the million dollar home market being hit the hardest these numbers are skewed by lack of activity in the higher end home markets.

According toOzzie Jurock “Seasonally adjusted home sales activity declined nationally by 9.5 per cent in May from the previous month. Activity declined in more than 70 per cent of local markets, the largest declines coming in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa. In a departure from the normal seasonal pattern, national activity levels in May were also down from April levels. This suggests that the combination of changes to mortgage regulations and rising mortgage rates pulled forward a number of sales into April that would have otherwise taken place at a later date.”

An interesting stat was talked about at this weeks staff meeting of Royal LePage REALTORS gathered at the yacht club. If not one more home was listed how many months of inventory would we have?                                      

Well that depends on which segment of the market you are analyzing….

The strongest sector of the market are single family homes priced between $200,000 and $300,000. With current inventory levels to date we have 7 months of inventory!!! First time buyers, the new first time home buyer, downsize-rs, and investors have been picking up homes in this price point. In fact I have sold several of these to very savvy buyers. Deal of the month was 799 Torontowhich I helped a reapeat client of mine obtain for a mere $200,000. I had one brand new construction 1/2 duplex sell just under the nasty HST deadline. Sold for $280,000 buyers paid the 5% GST and saved $12,000 by closing prior to July 1st.

The next sector being homes priced $300,000 to $400,000 there are 4.5 months of inventory.

$400,000 to $500,000 the inventory levels jump to 14 months supply.

$500,000-$600,000 a scary jump to just over 18 months of inventory.

As we jump in hundreds to the million dollar mark we are seeing a trend of  increasing inventory levels.

$600,000-$700,000 shows 19 months of inventory

$700,000-$800,000 a whopping 33 months of inventory.

$800,000-$900,000 shows 41 months of inventory

$900,000- a million 47 months of inventory

and 1 million to 1.5 million  57 months of inventory.

Million plus sector is primarily driven by the stock market, which is vitually dead unless very sharply priced. Where one could consider a $50,000 price reduction “measly.”