BC Home Sales to Reach 100,000 Units in 2015: BCREA 2015 Third Quarter Housing Forecast Update
Vancouver, BC – August 18, 2015. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its 2015 Third Quarter Housing Forecast Update today.
For only the third time in BC, Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales are expected to reach 100,000 units in 2015. Housing demand has not been this robust since 2007 when 102,800 homes traded hands. A record 106,300 MLS® residential sales were recorded in 2005.
“While rock-bottom mortgage interest rates and BC’s nation leading economic growth are underpinning demand, consumer confidence is the key driver of the near record activity,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist.
Strong consumer demand has drawn down the inventory of homes for sale to their lowest level in nearly eight years. As a result, sellers’ market conditions are prevailing in many communities and causing home prices to be pushed higher. The average MLS® residential sales price in the province is forecast to climb 10 per cent to $626,000 this year. An increase in new construction activity and a higher proportion of condominium purchases is expected to limit growth in the average home price to 2.5 per cent in 2016.
“BC home sales posted the second strongest June on record,” said Brendon Ogmundson, BCREA Economist. “A growing provincial economy and record low borrowing rates continue to push demand higher, particularly in the lower mainland.”
“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,” added Muir.