There are more than 165 licensed child care providers in Kelowna and surrounding area. For various reason, that doesn’t always mean there are vacancies. Researching and planning for your child care in advance will definitely give you a better chance of getting your child into the program of your choosing. There are currently 62 providers showing vacancies across all age groups.
The Pulse: Kelowna Market Review June 2020
The real estate market in Kelowna and the Central Okanagan slowed to a crawl back in April along with markets across the globe. Throughout May we started to see more and more activity but sales remained down considerably over May 2019. June however has been a roaring month and I’m thrilled to report that we are back to seeing an increase in sales transaction year-over-year. And not just a little increase - June saw a 76% increase over May for a total of 483 residential properties sold!
5 Tips for Managing Your Kelowna Rental During The COVID-19 Outbreak
The Pulse: Kelowna Market Review December 2019
The real estate market in Kelowna and the Central Okanagan finished off 2019 on a high note! Residential sales are up once again in December compared to this time last year. Like last month the year-over-year increase for the month was substantial. There were a total of 271 transactions which was a 39.69% increase over December 2018. Condo sales lead this sales growth with 74 sales, up a whopping 60.87% from the 46 sales last year. This trend is very promising.
The Pulse: Kelowna Market Review November 2019
November was a surprising month for real estate in Kelowna and the Central Okanagan with the market experiencing a flashback to the days of November 2016 and 2017. We came out of October with slowing sales and softening valuations only to experience the absolute strongest year-over-year gains of 2019 with residentials sales up 32.97%! With 371 sales reported for the Kelowna real estate market that far exceeded the 279 sales in November 2018 and is literally sitting very close to 2016 and 2017 which saw 378 and 395, respectively.
The Pulse: Kelowna Market Review October 2019
The Kelowna real estate market (and Central Okanagan) experienced a typical October with slowing sales and softening valuations. Overall residential sales were in fact up by 1.59% year-over-year though which suggests that our market is relatively stable right now; not changing due to policy or economic factors but trending inline with the past 3-6 months and down slightly due to the time of the year. With that being said sales of single family homes dropped from the same time last year for the first time since June. There were 383 residential homes sold in October compared to 377 in October 2018.
Dinner at the Keg
Where do you go for a good steak dinner in Kelowna? The Keg. There are other great places to get a great steak but The Keg is definitely among the top. It’s not unique, one of a kind place only found here - the kind that locals like to brag about. Around the time I moved to Kelowna there was this exceptional place on downtown on Bernard called Sal’s Prime. Now this was a local steakhouse worth talking about but with it no longer, we might as well be grateful for the mouth watering steaks and great service at The Keg. Plus, they have Billie Miner Pie!
Its been a busy year for our family as we have been adjusted to life with a pre-teen and new baby at the same time. Dinner dates that we’re once just Sarah and I have become lunch dates with Owen or afternoon walks around the neighbourhood with a Starbucks in hand. Then the other day our friends Jen and Dave asked us to drop off Owen and go out for a night. We didn’t think for a second and immediately were taking about a night out for a delicious steak dinner.
The Keg here in Kelowna moved awhile back to a new large space just up Highway 97 from Orchard Park Shopping mall. When you walk up to the entrance you have to look up to see the top of the doors. You walk inside into a spacious lobby and you really start to feel like you’re in high class place. The dinning room has seating for a few or seating for many but we usually sit on the patio in the warmer months because we love patios or in the lounge because the smaller, round, bar height tables are just the right size and we like being cozy when it’s just the two of us.
From the moment you arrive, the team at The Keg makes sure that you have everything you need. They are everything you’d expect for a nice restaurant. With the “happy hour” trend still going strong (The Keg’s goes from open to 6pm every day) we decided to start with a cocktail and some calamari. On this particular day the calamari wasn’t the best but the margaritas made up for it. And so did the steak. We ordered the night’s feature which was a New York striploin with caramelized mushrooms and onions served with a side of asparagus and diced sweet potato and butternut squash, two of my favourite vegetables. The steak was thick and juicy and the mushrooms had so much flavour. Once we finished eating our server asked if we wanted to look at the dessert menu. Sarah immediately exclaimed, “Yes!” Meanwhile I’m thinking who needs a menu? Obviously we’re going to order the Billie Miner Pie! That delicious creamy mocha ice cream with sliced almonds and gooey chocolate and caramel drizzle is the perfect ending to any dinner.
Next time you’re thinking steak or just ate planning a dinner date, I’d definitely recommend you consider The Keg. I would be shocked if you were disappointed.
The Pulse: Kelowna Market Review September 2019
September was a fantastic month for the real estate market in Kelowna and the Central Okanagan Valley. The crisp autumn air is definitely upon us but it’s almost as if real estate is heating up. Our market tends to slow down month-to-month as we move closer towards the end of the year and while that is true as well for this year, September sales were up 11.54% compared to September 2018 and for single family homes we actually saw more transactions than we did in both 2018 and 2017!
Beverly Kelowna is a Welcomed Addition To Midtown
This week I was invited to attend a special media event introducing the upcoming Beverly Kelowna condominium building coming to the City’s Midtown neighbourhood at the intersection of Spall Road and Enterprise Way. It’s been exciting to see new development on a prime site that has been vacant since I moved to Kelowna thirteen years ago. I’ve been watching the construction on the West end of the site of the now nearly complete 161-room Hyatt Place Hotel, seeing progress every time I drive up to Glenmore or use Clement Avenue to get downtown.
The Pulse: Kelowna Market Review August 2019
The Kelowna and Central Okanagan Valley continue to experience a strong real estate market. Whether this is due to reduce interest rates and the benchmark qualifying rate which has increased purchasing power or simply the fact that people want to buy in the Okanagan are anybody’s guess but the former surely have had their impact. Sales were up 7.92% over August 2018 with a total of 450 residential sales transactions.