Newsletter
Strong First Quarter for BC Housing Markets, But Rising Rates Loom Large
For the complete news release, including detailed statistics, click here.
Vancouver, BC – April 12, 2022. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 11,463 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in March 2022, a decrease of 24.1 per cent from a record March 2021. The average MLS® residential price in BC was $1.096 million, a 15.7 per cent increase from $946,813 recorded in March 2021. Total sales dollar volume was $12.6 billion, a 12.1 per cent decline from the same time last year.
“Home sales in the province continue to moderate from record highs of this time last year,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “Given the sharp rise in Canadian mortgage rates and expected tightening from the Bank of Canada, activity will likely slow further in the second half of this year.”
Provincial active listings were 12.4 per cent lower than this time last year with the total inventory of homes for sale in the province at under 20,000 units. That level of inventory remains well below the roughly 40,000 listings needed for a balanced market.
Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was down 4.1 per cent to $28.8 billion, compared with the same period in 2021. Residential unit sales were down 20.1 per cent to 26,577 units, while the average MLS® residential price was up 20 per cent to $1.086 million.
Additional economics information is available here on BCREA’s website.
A Record Year for the BC Housing Market
Vancouver, BC – January 12, 2022. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a record 124,854 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in 2021, a 32.8 per cent increase from the 94,001 units sold in 2020. The annual average MLS® residential price in BC was $927,877, an 18.7 per cent increase from $781,572 recorded the previous year. Total sales dollar volume was $115.8 billion, a 57.7 per cent increase from 2020.
“Last year was a record year for BC homes sales with seven market areas setting new highs,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “Listings activity could not keep up with demand throughout the year. As a result, we start 2022 with the lowest level of active listings on record.”
A total of 6,871 MLS® residential unit sales were recorded across the province in December down 17.6 per cent from a record-setting December 2020. The average MLS® residential price in BC passed the $1 million mark for the first time as the average price in three of the largest markets in the province were over $1 million in December. Total sales dollar volume was $7.1 billion, a 1.2 per cent increase year-over-year.
Total active residential listings were down 41.2 per cent to a record low of 12,179 units. The supply situation is particularly concerning in the Fraser Valley, Chilliwack and Vancouver Island where there is one month or less of supply at the current pace of sales.
BC Markets Calming but Sales Still on Record Pace
The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 13,683 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in April 2021, an increase of 312.3 per cent over April 2020 when the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a lockdown of the provincial economy. The average MLS® residential price in BC was $946,606, a 29.1 per cent increase from $733,330 recorded in April 2020. Total sales dollar volume was $12.9 billion, a 432.2 per cent increase from last year.
“Although provincial home sales were down slightly from an all-time high in March, sales activity was the highest on record for April,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “Home sales continue on a record pace, though we do see a calming environment compared to the frenzied activity of recent months.”
Victoria and Vancouver Island Rank Top Locations on Conde Nast Magazine 2020
Nanaimo, B.C. – Vancouver Island has been ranked #2 in the Top 5 Islands in North America and Victoria has been ranked #8 in the Top 10 Small Cities in the World by global travellers voting in Condé Nast Traveler magazine’s 2020 Readers’ Choice Awards. Topped only by Cape Breton Island, Vancouver Island was once again recognized as one of the best islands in the world; what has become an annual acknowledgement by the readers of the prestigious U.S. leisure travel magazine.
BC Housing Markets Heat Up as Summer Ends
The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 10,172 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in August 2020, an increase of 42.8 per cent from August 2019. The average MLS® residential price in BC was $771,309, a 12.7 per cent increase from $684,093 recorded the previous year. Total sales dollar volume in August was $7.8 billion, a 61.1 per cent increase over 2019.
“Very strong provincial home sales continued in August,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “While pentup demand from the spring is driving much of the increase, we anticipate a sustained strong level of sales through the fall.”
8 real estate market trends to watch for in 2018
The rise of the tech-disrupter, the return of the 30-year-mortgage and a roller-coaster mortgage rate ride. These are just a few of the trends to watch for in Canada’s real estate market this year
There’s an old newspaper editor joke: What do you do when you cover the same event year after year? Slap a new headline on an old story and run with it. Real estate in Canada is beginning to feel a bit like the butt-end of this joke. Every year there are pronouncements that this is the year when the market will finally… (select your verb, please). Going into 2018, it’s hard not to feel a bit of trepidation, since any pronouncement made will be partly incorrect, at best. However, there are certain real estate trends that we can watch for in 2018.
Still, we all want a little insight into this crazy roller-coaster real estate ride—we all want an idea of the market trends to prepare for in 2018. The Canadian Real Estate Association released preliminary data in December that shows almost half of the country’s property markets are now in balanced territory—meaning supply is meeting demand. As we progress through 2018, more markets within Canada are are expected to shift towards this supply-demand equilibrium.
Given these expectations—and the long-running ‘when will the market crash’ inquiries—we’d like to offer some insight. Rather than weigh in on the ‘crash or no crash’ debate, we decided to focus on the biggest real estate trends to watch for in 2018. Here are the eight real estate market trends to watch for in 2018 in Canada.
