Home sales in BC are off to a positive start this year, according to two reports released this week.
The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released figures on February 13 showing that BC had 4,377 residential unit sales in January 2015, 3.1 per cent more than in the same month last year. January’s total sales volume, at $2.6 billion, increased 8.3 per cent year over year.
“Last month was the strongest January for BC home sales in five years,” said BCREA chief economist Cameron Muir.
Average MLS® prices also increased. BCREA reported that January’s average MLS® residential price for BC was $593,155, a 5.0 per cent increase over January 2014. In Greater Vancouver, the residential average price increased 1.8 per cent to $827,558. The province's largest increase was in the South Okanagan, where prices increased 24.1 per cent year over year.
In figures released February 12, the Teranet–National Bank National Composite House Price Index also showed rising house prices in BC, with year-over-year increases of 5.1 per cent in Vancouver and 4.4 per cent in Victoria.
UPDATE: National home sales fell 3.1 per cent from December to January, according to figures released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), largely reflecting lower sales in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Actual activity in January was 2 per cent lower than in January 2014, the first year-over-year decline since April 2014. However, about half of markets actually saw sales increase.
"The decline in national sales largely reflects weakened activity in Calgary and Edmonton," said Gregory Klump, CREA's chief economist. If these two markets are removed from national totals, combined sales activity remained 1.9 per cent above year-ago levels."
While the number of newly listed homes nationally rose 0.7 per cent in January compared to December, Greater Vancouver saw a decline in new listings.
The nationwide Aggregate Composite MLS® house price index rose by 5.17 per cent on a year-over-year basis in January.
The average price for Canadian homes sold in January 2015 was $401,143, up 3.1 per cent from the same month last year – the smallest increase since April 2013.
According to the CREA, "The national average home price remains skewed by sales activity in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, which are among Canada's most active and expensive housing markets. Excluding these two markets from the calculation, the average price is a relatively more modest $312,280, which represents a year-over-year decline of three tenths of one per cent."
UPDATE: Home sales activity in December across Canada rose 7.9 per cent year over year, according to Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) figures released January 14.
Sales for the month were up from year-ago levels in about two-thirds of all local markets, led by Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, the Greater Toronto Area and Montreal.
The national MLS® house price index rose by 5.38 per cent on a year-over-year basis in December. As in recent months, Calgary (+8.80 per cent), Greater Toronto (+7.89 per cent) and Greater Vancouver (+5.82 per cent) posted the biggest year-over-year increases.
- See more at: https://www.rew.ca/news/2014-a-banner-year-for-bc-home-sales-up-15-bcrea-1.2095950
