Home sales in BC hit an eight-year high, rising to levels not since since before the recession hit in 2008, according to BC Real Estate Association (BCREA) figures released June 15.
A total of 10,174 residential unit sales were recorded by real estate boards across BC in May, up 16.6 per cent from May 2014. Total sales dollar volume was $6.4 billion, a 30.4 per cent rise compared with the previous year.
The average MLS® home price in the province rose to $632,182, an 11.8 per cent increase since last May.
“Strong consumer demand is pushing home sales up in most of the large urban areas of the province,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA chief economist.
“A dwindling inventory of homes for sale in the face of strong demand is putting upward pressure on home prices in many regions, with the single-detached market segment experiencing most of the gains. We haven’t experienced inventories this low since prior to the financial crisis.”
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reported on the same day that, across Canada, sales were up on a year-over-year basis in about half of all local markets, led by activity in the Lower Mainland, Greater Toronto and Montreal.
CREA president Pauline Aunger offered a theory for the increased sales activity in May. She said, “CMHC announced in April that, effective June 1, it was hiking mortgage default insurance premiums for homebuyers with less than a 10 per cent down payment, so some buyers may have jumped off the fence and purchased in May to beat the increase. It’s one of the factors that could have affected sales last month.”
The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in May 2015 was $450,886, up 8.1 per cent compared with May last year, said the CREA report.
The association added, “The national average home price continues to be upwardly distorted by sales activity in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, which are among Canada’s most active and expensive housing markets. If these two markets are excluded from calculations, the average is a more modest $344,988 and the year-over-year gain is reduced to 2.4 per cent.”
