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BC Home Prices Keep Climbing on Low Supply: BCREA S ales may be down from last year’s record-breaking activity, but that doesn’t mean home prices across the province are falling, according to the latest figures from the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released July 13. The BCREA reported that 11,671 BC homes were sold on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in June, a fall of 9.6% from June last year, and down 5.9% compared with May’s surge. However, the average MLS® sale price in BC was $725,778, up 4.4% from the same month last year, and rising on an annual basis in every one of the 11 BC real estate board areas. “Although home sales remain well off the record pace set last year, demand is still quite robust,” said Brendon Ogmundson, BCREA economist. “That demand is supported by a strong GO TO
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provincial economy and vigorous job growth.” He added, “Supply remains a challenge, which means most areas are seeing tight market conditions and significant upward pressure on prices.” The number of total active listings across the province was down 6.2% to 29,651 units compared with June 2016. Chilliwack was the board to see the highest annual price growth, up 18.3% year over year, followed by Kootenay, Victoria and Vancouver Island. Greater Vancouver saw the lowest average price increase of the 11 BC boards, a rise of 2.7% since last June. Sales activity painted a different picture – revealing that it is largely supply, rather than sales volumes, that dictates price points. Along with Greater Vancouver, where sales were down around 12% in June year over year, Chilliwack
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saw an 11% annual sales decrease. In both Vancouver Island and Victoria, where prices are climbing robustly, yearover-year transactions declined 13-14%.
Nationwide Activity Across Canada, June home sales were down compared with the previous month in 70% of local markets, with Greater Toronto seeing by far the biggest monthly drop, according to Canadian Real Estate Association figures published July 17. National home sales fell 6.7% month over month and 11.4% compared with June 2016. Like in Greater Vancouver, benchmark price appreciation in June slowed on an annual basis in Greater Toronto, Guelph, and particularly Oakville-Milton, but prices remain considerably higher than a year ago. Calgary benchmark prices remained slightly up year-over-
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year in June (+0.6%), while Regina and Saskatoon home prices fell on an annual basis (-0.7% and -3.1%, respectively). The national average price for homes sold in June 2017 was $504,458, up just 0.4% from one year earlier. “Canadian economic and job growth have been improving, which is good news for housing demand,” said Andrew Peck, CREA president. “However, it also means that interest rates have begun to rise, which may impact homebuyer confidence – particularly in pricier markets like Toronto and Vancouver where recent housing policies had already moved potential buyers to the sidelines. In lower priced markets, the effect of higher interest rates on housing affordability will be relatively muted.” Read the full BCREA report, with breakdowns by area, at www.bcrea.bc.ca and the full CREA report at www.crea.ca
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