BCREA: slower sales pace continued in September

Home sales in British Columbia remain weak following the past few years of growth.

Across the province there was a 33.2% decrease in sales in September compared to a year earlier with a total of 5,573 units according to the latest data from the British Columbia Real Estate Association.

“BC home sales continue at a slower pace compared to last year,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “The impact on affordability and purchasing power caused by the mortgage stress test and moderately higher interest rates are negating the effect of the extraordinarily strong performance of BC’s economy over the last five years.”

The weaker sales impacted prices with the average selling price falling 1.1% to $685,749. Total dollar volume of sales was $3.8 billion, down 34% year-over-year.

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was down 21.3% to $45 billion, compared with the same period in 2017. Residential unit sales decreased 22.5% to 63,251 units, while the average MLS residential price was up 1.5% to $716,096.