If you've been watching the Kelowna real estate market this year, you know 2026 had been showing some encouraging signs of recovery through June and July. August put a stop to that. Sales pulled back sharply, prices came down across every property type, and the market remains firmly in buyer's territory. Here's a full breakdown of what happened and what it means depending on where you sit in the market.Residential sales in Kelowna were down 9.4% year over year in August, making it the second slowest August we've seen in the last four years. What's notable is that this wasn't just a weak month compared to last year. Sales also dropped from July, reversing the upward trend we'd been seeing through the spring and early summer.A few factors contributed to this. The wildfires in the region led to evacuations and displacement that affected buyers and sellers alike. But the slowdown wasn't only about the fires. Ongoing trade tensions with the United States, new tariffs, and a surprising loss of 42,000 jobs across Canada in August (when economists had projected job growth) all weighed on buyer confidence.Breaking sales down by property type:
- Single family homes: 142 sales, down 10% year over year
- Townhomes: 42 sales, down over 10% year over year
- Condos: 96 sales, down 5% year over year
Active listings across the Okanagan and Kelowna are down 12% year over year. Under normal circumstances, a drop in inventory like this would tighten the market and push months of supply down, since homes would be selling at a faster pace relative to what's available. That isn't happening here. Because sales also slowed in August, the reduced inventory hasn't been enough to offset the impact of fewer buyers in the market.Months of supply tells us how long it would take to sell through the current inventory at the current pace of sales. As a general guide, less than three months of supply favors sellers, four to six months is considered balanced, and anything over six months favors buyers.
- Single family homes: 8.2 months, up slightly from July
- Townhomes: 8.2 months, up slightly from July
- Condos: approximately 9 months, up slightly from July
Every segment of the Kelowna market currently sits well into buyer's market territory.Composite benchmark price: $788,000This is the blended price across all property types and gives us a general read on the market as a whole. This is the first time in three to four months the composite benchmark has dropped below $800,000. Looking back over the last five years, the composite benchmark price in Kelowna is down 12.6% from the 2022 market peak and has returned to roughly where it was in August 2021.Single family homes: $1,056,700Down 1.5% month over month, a drop of roughly $15,000 from July. Year over year, prices are essentially flat, up just 0.2% from August 2025. Over the last five years, single family prices are down 11% from the market peak but still sit about $50,000 higher than they were five years ago.Townhomes: $698,600Down 1.5% month over month and down 3.3% year over year. This market has been sliding consistently since March, and prices are now down $45,000 from where they stood at the start of 2025. Looking at the longer trend, townhome prices are down almost 17% from their 2022 peak and are now slightly below where they were five years ago.Condos: $465,700Down 5% month over month, the lowest benchmark price we've seen in quite some time, and down 5.5% year over year. Condo prices have been declining steadily since last spring. Over the past five years, they're down 15% from the 2022 peak and only about $14,000 higher than they were five years ago.If you're in the market to buy, this is one of the more favorable environments we've seen in years. With every property type sitting above 8 months of supply, you have real negotiating power. Sellers are competing for a smaller pool of buyers, and that's showing up directly in falling prices, particularly in the condo and townhome segments. If you've been waiting for more room to negotiate on price or conditions, this is it.Pricing accurately matters more than ever in this market. With inventory taking longer to move and prices trending down across the board, overpricing a listing right now risks extended time on market and price reductions down the line. If you need to sell in the near term, working with accurate, current comparables and pricing competitively from the start will put you in the best position. If you have flexibility on timing, it may be worth discussing whether waiting for more stable conditions makes sense for your situation.August was shaped by a combination of factors: wildfire disruption, broader economic issues, and a national job loss report that caught economists off guard. Sales slowed, inventory tightened only modestly, and prices fell across every segment of the market. Kelowna remains a buyer's market, and that trend shows no signs of reversing in the immediate term.If you want to talk through what any of this means for your specific plans to buy or sell, reach out anytime.Tyrell Boake 250-469-3329 tyrell@tyrellboake.ca