What will the 2026 spring real estate market look like?

I’ve been getting this question almost daily lately. After nearly 20 years as a licensed real estate professional, my answer is the same every year: April, May, and June will be the busiest months of the year for real estate sales.

No matter what the financial markets are doing, no matter the strength of the economy or consumer confidence, those three months consistently produce the highest number of transactions. More listings hit the market, more buyers get serious, and more homes change hands than at any other time of year.

That’s exactly why now — the first quarter of the year — is the time to start preparing if you’re thinking about selling in 2026. The homeowners who take a few weeks to get ahead of the market always put themselves in the strongest position when the spring surge arrives.

As one of the Central Okanagan’s top real estate agents and a proud recipient of the Royal LePage Award of Excellence and Director’s Platinum Awards, I can tell you this with confidence: the sellers who win in the spring are the ones who start getting ready now.

Touch up the paint. Declutter. Line up trades. Get a pricing and marketing strategy in place early. When the right buyer walks through the door, first impressions matter — and preparation is what turns a good listing into a great sale.

If selling is even on your radar for 2026, let’s get ahead of it.

Call, email, or message me anytime and we’ll get laser-focused on a plan to make your sale a success.

Staging is all about dressing up your home so that it looks its best to buyers. This can involve anything from rearranging furniture and doing some home improvements, to painting and redecorating, to even replacing existing furnishings and other items. The goal is to make key rooms look worthy of a magazine cover!
But is it worth the effort? Can’t you just clean and tidy and, perhaps, do a little painting? Sometimes you can — especially if your home is in high demand and likely to get multiple offers. However, in most cases, staging can help sell your property faster and for a higher price. In fact, studies done by the home staging industry consistently reveal that staged homes sell for an average of 5-23% above list price. (That varies, of course, depending on the local market.)
Keep in mind that you don’t necessarily need to do extensive staging. You may, for example, be able to focus on only key rooms on the main floor — where buyers tend to form their lasting impressions — and then simply clean and declutter the other rooms. When it comes to staging, you have many options. Each home is different and will have different staging needs.

Want to find out how staging may impact the sale of your property? Call today.

When you’re shopping for a home, you may become interested in a property for sale that someone else is also considering. In fact, there may be several other buyers entertaining the idea of making an offer. In such a competitive situation, what should you do if you really love that home? Obviously, you’ll need to move quickly and make some fast decisions. Start by making certain the property fits within your price range. The last thing you want is to have an offer accepted and find out it is beyond your budget. That’s why it’s a good idea to arrange for financing before you go home shopping. Next, you want to make an offer that is so enticing to the sellers that they’ll put your offer at the top of the pile, if not close to it. So, what makes an offer enticing? Obviously, price is a big factor. You want to go in at a price that’s attractive to the sellers, without overpaying. Imagine finding out later that the nearest offer to yours was $15,000 less. Ouch!

Chances are your offer price will need to be at or slightly above asking. Find out what similar homes in the area recently sold for — what real estate agents call “comparables” — and use those as a guide. It’s also important that your offer contains few, if any, issues that may be concerning to the sellers. The ideal offer will feature:
- No conditions.?
- A closing date that’s convenient for the seller.
- A deposit amount that shows you’re a serious buyer.
- Acceptance of any of the buyer’s “exclusions”. (For example, they want to take the fridge and stove with them.)
- Evidence you can get financing. (Many lenders offer a “Mortgage Pre-approval Certificate”.)
Although a “no conditions” offer is the most attractive, including a condition on passing a professional home inspection is usually not a problem, so long as the inspection is done quickly. Avoid adding other conditions, such as “subject to financing approval” or “subject to the sale of buyer’s existing property”. If you want to increase the likelihood that you’ll find — and, more importantly, get — your next dream home, call today.