Kelowna Real Estate Market Update: Why Price Range Matters More Than the Average
August real estate sales slowed across Kelowna and the Central Okanagan.
But I don't think the most important story is that sales were down.
The bigger story is that Kelowna is becoming several different real estate markets operating at the same time.
A buyer looking below $700,000 is facing a very different market than someone buying a $2 million home.
A condo seller is dealing with different conditions than a luxury detached-home seller.
And for builders and developers, today's inventory can tell us something about what type of housing the market may actually need next.
Here is what I am seeing.
What happened in the Kelowna real estate market in August 2026?
There were 339 residential sales across the Central Okanagan in August 2026.
That was:
- 24% lower than July
- 9% lower than August 2025
- about 31% below the 11-year August average
At first, I thought the wildfires might explain the drop.
Then I looked further back.
August sales have now stayed inside a surprisingly tight range for four straight years:
2023: 365
2024: 323
2025: 371
2026: 339
That suggests something bigger may be happening.
Rather than August 2026 suddenly falling apart, we may have entered a new lower level of late-summer sales activity starting around 2023.
September will help test that theory.
Did the Okanagan wildfires cause Kelowna home sales to fall?
They may have had an impact, but I don't think the numbers prove that the fires caused August's decline.
During the McDougall Creek fire in 2023, the larger sales decline actually appeared in September rather than August.
August 2026 also didn't show the same sharp mid-month drop we saw around the 2023 fires.
So I would be careful blaming the entire slowdown on wildfires.
Wildfires can still affect real estate in other ways, especially:
- home insurance availability
- insurance premiums
- the ability to bind insurance before closing
- how relocation buyers view certain neighbourhoods
Those are risks buyers and sellers should understand, even when they don't immediately show up in the average sale price.
The Kelowna Housing Market Is Not One Market
This is the part of the August numbers I think matters most.
Look at how different the market was depending on price.
Homes under $700,000
Approximately 47% of available listings sold.
That was actually stronger than August 2025, when approximately 43% sold.
Homes from $700,000 to $1.5 million
Approximately 37% sold.
There is more choice here, but good homes can still move when they are priced properly.
Homes over $1.5 million
Only approximately 17% sold.
This part of the Kelowna housing market is much slower.
Homes over $1.5 million represent roughly 21% of the active inventory but only around 6% of sales.
That works out to approximately 23 months of supply, compared with roughly seven months below $700,000.
Same city.
Same month.
Very different real estate markets.
What Does This Mean for Kelowna Home Sellers?
The biggest mistake I see sellers make is looking at a broad Kelowna statistic and assuming it represents their home.
It often doesn't.
If you own a $650,000 property, the market around you can behave completely differently than the market for a $1.8 million home.
Your neighbourhood matters.
Your price range matters.
Your property type matters.
Even your ownership structure matters.
A fee-simple home, bare-land strata home and leasehold home can all behave differently.
Are homes selling in Kelowna right now?
Yes.
But buyers have more choices in many parts of the market.
That means sellers need to pay closer attention to:
- competing listings
- recent sales
- failed and expired listings
- months of inventory in their price range
- days on market
- pricing changes
- property condition
There were also a large number of listings that cancelled or expired and quickly came back to market.
About 42% were already active again.
The median time off market was only one day, and roughly two-thirds returned around 3% lower.
That matters.
Sometimes what looks like "new inventory" is really the same property coming back with a new MLS number and a different price.
What Does the Kelowna Market Mean for Buyers?
For buyers, more inventory doesn't automatically mean every property should sell for a huge discount.
You need to understand the market around the exact property you are considering.
Below $700,000, buyers may still face meaningful competition.
At higher price points, buyers can often have more negotiating power.
That can create opportunities around:
- price
- inspection conditions
- possession dates
- repairs
- longer due-diligence periods
But there is another side to it.
The best homes can still attract attention even during a slower market.
Waiting simply because "Kelowna is a buyer's market" can be just as dangerous as buying simply because someone says prices are going up.
Look at the property first.
Then look at its specific market.
Are Kelowna Condos Struggling?
Not nearly as much as many people assume.
Kelowna apartment pricing per square foot was approximately $448 in the latest period compared with $450 a year earlier.
That is almost flat.
The larger condo correction happened earlier.
Apartments were sitting at roughly eight months of inventory in August.
By comparison, some higher-priced detached homes had significantly more supply.
That is why broad statements like "condos are crashing" or "detached homes are strong" can be misleading.
You have to look deeper.
What Does This Mean for Kelowna Builders and Developers?
This is where today's resale numbers become interesting.
Builders and developers shouldn't only ask:
How much inventory does Kelowna have?
I think the better question is:
What type of inventory does Kelowna have, and where is demand actually showing up?
For example, the lower end of the market showed a much stronger sell-through rate than luxury housing in August.
That doesn't automatically mean a developer should build inexpensive homes. Land costs, construction costs, zoning, servicing, financing and density all matter.
But it does tell us something important:
Demand is not evenly distributed.
For anyone considering an infill or multifamily project in Kelowna, I would want to study:
- expected finished price per unit
- competing resale inventory
- competing new construction
- absorption at that price
- townhome versus apartment demand
- investor versus owner-occupier demand
- the size of the end-buyer pool
The real question is not whether Kelowna needs "more housing."
It is whether we are building the housing buyers will actually purchase at the price required to make the project work.
That distinction matters.
August 2026 Kelowna Real Estate Statistics
Total Central Okanagan Market
Sales: 339
New Listings: 771
Active Listings: 3,477
Months of Inventory: 10
Average Days to Sell: 72
Median Days to Sell: 53
Median Sale Price: $675,000
Average Sale Price: $799,438
Sales Volume: approximately $271 million
Kelowna and Central Okanagan Single-Family Homes
Sales: 155
New Listings: 327
Active Listings: 1,445
Months of Inventory: 9
Median Sale Price: $935,000
Average Sale Price: $1,134,120
Townhomes
Sales: 42
New Listings: 127
Active Listings: 429
Months of Inventory: 10
Median Sale Price: $615,000
Average Sale Price: $678,186
Apartments and Condos
Sales: 96
New Listings: 194
Active Listings: 793
Months of Inventory: 8
Median Sale Price: $413,500
Average Sale Price: $475,971
Frequently Asked Questions About the Kelowna Real Estate Market
Is Kelowna a buyer's market in 2026?
Parts of it are.
There was substantially more supply relative to sales in the higher-priced market than below $700,000 in August.
Rather than calling Kelowna one big buyer's or seller's market, buyers should look at the months of inventory and recent sales for the specific type of property they want.
Is now a good time to buy a home in Kelowna?
It depends on what you are buying.
Some price ranges have significant inventory and negotiating room. Other parts of the market remain much more competitive.
The best approach is to compare the home against its direct competition rather than the overall Kelowna average.
Is now a good time to sell a house in Kelowna?
Homes are still selling, but pricing matters.
A seller should understand the supply, sales activity and failed listings within their specific neighbourhood, property type and price range before choosing a listing price.
Are Kelowna home prices falling?
Some measures are lower, but averages can be misleading because the mix of properties selling changes every month.
For example, August's median sale price across the entire market was $675,000, while the single-family median was $935,000.
Looking at one city-wide average does not tell you what an individual property gained or lost in value.
Is Kelowna still a good market for real estate development?
That depends heavily on the project.
Developers should look beyond Kelowna's total housing inventory and study the expected finished price, product type, competing inventory and absorption for the exact homes they plan to build.
That is especially important for infill townhome, apartment and small multifamily projects where the economics of the land have to match what the end buyer can afford.
What I'm Watching Next
September may give us the next important clue.
Historically, sales often fall from August into September.
The question is how far.
I am also watching something that won't show up in the sales statistics yet: who is shopping.
I have personally been speaking with more relocation buyers.
That is anecdotal, not measured market data.
But it matters because sales statistics tell us who wrote an offer weeks or months ago.
They don't always tell us who is entering the market today.
That is why I will increasingly focus these market updates on:
Price range. Property type. Ownership type. Neighbourhood.
Because "the Kelowna market" is becoming too broad a term to be very useful.
If you are considering buying, selling, developing or building in Kelowna, I can break these numbers down to the exact neighbourhood, price range or type of property you are considering.
Mark Coons, BBA, CE
REALTOR® | eXp Realty Kelowna
Team Lead, Selling Okanagan Group
Relocated to Kelowna in 2018
📞 778-946-6454
📩 [email protected]
