BC housing demand continues rising

August proved to be another positive month for home sales in the British Columbia market with MLS sales up 5% year-over-year.

The British Columbia Real Estate Association says that sales totaled 7,093 but despite the gain from a year ago sales remain below the levels seen before the mortgage stress test was introduced.

The average MLS® residential price in the province was $685,575, up 2.6% from August 2018 and total sales dollar volume was $4.86 billion, a 7.6% increase from the same month last year.

Active listings jumped 10% year-over-year to 40,098 units, remaining essentially flat from July, and the province’s sales-to-active listings ratio was a balanced 18%.

Policy-driven downturn

“BC home sales continue to recover from a policy-driven downturn,” said BCREA Deputy Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. Home sales have been rising through the spring and summer, but still remain well below pre-B20 stress test levels."

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was down 16% to $34.9 billion, compared with the same period in 2018.

Residential unit sales were 12.2% lower at 50,806 units, while the average MLS® residential price was down 4.4% year-to-date at $686,303.

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