Kelowna Real Estate Market Update May 2026: Sales Slow, Prices Hold Steady

If you've been watching the Kelowna real estate market and wondering whether prices are finally going to drop, April's numbers offer a clear answer. Not yet. And depending on your strategy, that matters a lot.

Here's a full breakdown of what happened in April and what it actually means if you're thinking about buying or selling.

April was the slowest April for home sales in Kelowna in four years. Overall residential sales were down 3.6% year-over-year. Break it down by property type and the picture gets sharper: single family home sales dropped 6.9%, town home sales fell more than 10%, and condos were down roughly 4%.

Spring is typically when this market picks up momentum. That hasn't happened yet.

Here's where the story gets more nuanced. Despite sluggish sales, inventory is actually tighter this year than it was at this point in 2025. There are roughly 500 to 600 fewer active listings on the market right now compared to a year ago.

That tighter inventory is showing up in the months of supply data:

Single family detached homes are sitting at 6.8 months of supply. A balanced market is generally considered to be 4 to 6 months, so we are getting close. This segment is still technically a buyer's market, but the gap is narrowing.

Town homes are at 7 months of supply. Because sales in this category dropped so significantly, months of supply actually increased from the previous month.

Condos are at 8.4 months of supply, which is still a buyer's market but an improvement from where things were in December, when supply was well over 10 months.

The broader market has been in buyer's market territory for a couple of years now, and that hasn't changed. 

This is the part that tends to catch people off guard.

The composite benchmark price, which combines all property types, came in at $798,000 in April. That is almost exactly where it was this time last year. Prices rose in three of the last four months after a steady decline through the second half of 2025.

By property type, here is where things stand:

Single family detached homes came in at $1,049,900 in April, essentially flat from March and down just 1% from a year ago.

Town homes landed at $724,000, a lateral move month-over-month and down about 1.5% from April 2025 when the benchmark was $735,000.

Condos saw the most notable movement this month, jumping 5.5% from $471,000 in March to $497,500 in April. Even so, condo prices are still down about 2.3% from this time last year. There has been significant volatility in this segment over the past 12 months, so it is worth watching over the next few months to see whether $497,500 is the beginning of a trend or another data point in an uneven market.

On average, buyers in this market are purchasing homes at about 3% below the last listed price. That discount is consistent with a buyer's market and gives active buyers meaningful negotiating room, provided they are working with accurate pricing expectations from the start.

If you have been waiting on the sidelines for prices to fall, the data makes it hard to justify that strategy right now. Prices today are almost exactly where they were 12 months ago. You have essentially waited a year and the market has not moved in your favor in terms of price. If that waiting period allowed you to build a larger down payment, there may be some value to it. But if not, time has not been your ally.

Inventory is also getting tighter, particularly in the single family segment. That pressure is unlikely to ease as quickly as some buyers are expecting.

Roughly 12% of active listings are selling each month. That means if your home is overpriced, the odds are working against you in a meaningful way. There is no shortage of competition on the market.

When I talk to sellers about what drives results in a market like this, I always come back to three things: product, price, and promotion. If your home is in good shape and is being marketed well, the biggest lever you have right now is pricing it correctly from the start. That is where deals get made or don't get made.

April's numbers tell the story of a market that is quiet but not collapsing. Sales are slow, inventory is tighter than it looks on the surface, and prices are holding at roughly the same level they were a year ago. The single family segment is inching toward balanced market conditions, which means less downward pressure on prices in that category going forward.

If you have questions about what this means for your specific situation, whether you are buying, selling, or just trying to figure out your next move, feel free to reach out. I'm happy to walk through the numbers with you.