Real Estate posted Mar 9, 2024 @ 03:00pm by Steve MacNaull

Meet the new president of the 2,600-member Association of Interior Realtors

Kaytee Sharun takes over as president of the 2,600-member Association of Interior Realtors as the real estate market recovers from a year-and-a-half of price softening and sales slides.

"This opportunity fills me with boundless excitement as I prepare to lead the board of directors in the year ahead," said Sharun, a realtor with East Kootenay Realty in Cranbrook.

"I'm committed to contributing my utmost to propel us forward."

</who?Kaytee Sharun of East Kootenay Realty in Cranbrook is the new president of the 2,600-member Association of Interior Realtors.

A post-pandemic boom in 2021 and the first half of 2022 saw a buying frenzy that forced prices to record highs.

Since then, skyrocketing inflation and runaway mortgage interest rate increases dampened prices and sales, turning the sellers' market into a buyers' market and now toward a balanced market as sales and prices inch up as spring approaches.

Presidents of associations can't change the market, but they can set the stage to support realtors no matter what the market throws at them with information, further education, professional standards and forecasting.

"My focus is unwavering -- ensuring every member receives the support and representation they deserve," said Sharun.

"We're industry leaders and it's a journey I'm excited to embark on with our dedicated members."

The association represents the 2,600 realtors working in a vast swatch of the Interior from the Okanagan, Kamloops and Shuswap to Revelstoke, the Kootenays and South Peace River.

Sharun is from the Kootenays and became a realtor in 2012.

In 2019, she joined the board of the Kootenay Association of Realtors, which later became part of the Association of Interior Realtors along with the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board, Kamloops & District Real Estate Association, South Okanagan Real Estate Board and Northern Lights Real Estate Board (South Peace River).

Sharun, in 2022, was elected to the new, bigger Association of Interior Realtors as a director and became vice-president in 2023.

</who>Also on the 2024 board are realtors Gavin Thomas, left, from Kimberley, Tamara Stone from Kelowna and Steve Jamieson from Vancouver.