Salmon Arm

Lending in Salmon Arm, BC

As our home base, Salmon Arm is a market we know better than anyone. It’s a classic BC interior town—built around Shuswap Lake, driven by a practical economy, and defined by a lifestyle that attracts people who’ve made a conscious choice to be here. It’s not a speculative market, it’s a stable one. For brokers, that predictability is why we’re comfortable lending up to a max LTV of 70% on the right properties.

The local economy is inseparable from the lake and the town’s history as a transportation and farming hub. That legacy created a foundation that’s practical, not flashy. Today, the top employers are in retail, healthcare, and construction, with education and manufacturing rounding out the top five. This isn’t a single-industry resource town prone to boom-and-bust cycles; it’s moderately diverse and stable. However, we’re realistic about its limits. A median household income of $75,000 and an unemployment rate near 8% mean that local earning power isn’t high. It’s a solid, working-class town, but it doesn’t have the high-octane economy of Kelowna.

So what drives the real estate market? Lifestyle, plain and simple. People move here for direct access to Shuswap Lake’s 400+ kilometers of shoreline, for the local ski hills, and for the community feel, all without the premium of a dedicated resort town. This creates a powerful and consistent demand, especially from a key demographic: retirees. The numbers are clear: the median age is over 51, and seniors make up over 30% of the population. These are buyers who are often cashing out of overheated markets in the Lower Mainland or Alberta, bringing significant outside equity with them. This influx of cash provides a crucial buffer for property values, insulating the market from the limitations of local wages. With over 60% of the housing stock being single-detached homes and a finite supply of land, the fundamentals are strong.

This all informs our lending strategy. That 70% max LTV is built on the security that the location itself provides. In a worst-case foreclosure scenario, we’re not worried about a property sitting for a year. A well-located home in Salmon Arm will find a buyer, likely within 3-4 months and without a steep discount. The deep pool of retiree and lifestyle buyers creates a reliable backstop. We see Salmon Arm as a tier-one community for our model—it has the stability we look for, and none of the volatility of a major urban centre. It’s exactly the kind of market we built our business to serve.