The Town of Oliver is located in the South Okanagan valley approximately 24 km north of the Canada-US border and is situated next to the Okanagan River by Tuc-el-nuit Lake between Osoyoos and Okanagan Falls. It lies at a distance of approximately 400km east of Vancouver, 800km southwest of Calgary, and 40km south of Penticton on BC Highway 97. The town is surrounded by the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen Area C and is the amenity center for the surrounding rural areas. The Osoyoos Indian Band controls about 32,000 acres of reserve land between Oliver and Osoyoos on the east side of the valley. The Subject’s neighbourhood is located just off of Main Street and is surrounded by a mixture of highway/downtown commercial and off-street residential dwellings. The neighbourhood is lower density in structure but is growing in density as a result of newer zoning bylaws. Some recent commercial and multi-family residential developments have occurred in the Subject’s neighbourhood in recent years
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About Real Estate Market
MLS listings recorded 140 residential units sold in 2022, down significantly from 208 in both 2020 and 2021 for the municipal area of Oliver. The average sale price was $580,775 in 2022, which was an increase of 31% over 2021. The average days to sell was 42 days in 2022, down from 52 days in 2021 and 106 days in 2020. BC Assessment reports that property value in the Town of Oliver has increased 10% from the 2022 assessment. The report shows that the median assessment value for single-family homes is $610,000 in 2023, up from $555,000 in the 2022 assessment.
About Calgary’s Residential Market
Downtown Calgary Development Incentive Program
Calgary’s downtown office vacancy rates are high, with approximately 14 million square feet of office space currently vacant, or around 32.6%. This is a concerning situation as it poses a risk to the city’s vibrancy, economic competitiveness, and fiscal sustainability.
To address this issue, the Calgary City Council has approved a $100 million investment in the Downtown Calgary Development Incentive Program. The program aims to remove at least six million square feet of office space from the market by offering grants for building owners to convert their underused or vacant office space to other uses such as residential.
Most buildings participating in the program are largely vacant, and building owners are not required to convert their entire building. However, a minimum conversion area of 40,000 square feet is required to be eligible for the program.
Building owners are also required to submit a ‘tenant relocation plan’ as part of their application if they have existing tenants that will be displaced through a building conversion.
The program offers a grant of $75 per square foot for office to residential conversions, up to a maximum of $10 million per property, under Administration approval. Requests exceeding $10 million require Council approval.