Author: Kirsten Mason

BC Real Estate Association (BCREA) Chief Economist Cameron Muir discusses the November 2018 statistics.

Home sales across the province were down in November in comparison to the same time last year. December sales are expected to show the same pattern. Saying that, 2017 was a year where the number of active listings were at a historical low. This is one of the reasons for such an active market.

In Kamloops we have seen a similar pattern but not as pronounced as what is being experienced in the Lower Mainland areas. For November 2018, Kamloops was down 5% for the number of sales year over year and 11.4% in terms of dollar value. We are seeing more listings coming on the market in the Kamloops area, although we are still relatively low in inventory. There has been an increase in the number of listings by 4.8% giving our market 4.6 months worth of supply.

While the market appears to be calming down, the statistics show that Kamloops is experiencing much less dramatic market adjustments in comparison to other areas.

Vancouver, BC – December 14, 2018. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 5,179 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) across the province in November, down 33.1 per cent from the same month last year. The average MLS® residential price in BC was $718,903, a decline of 1.9 per cent from November 2017. Total sales dollar volume was $3.7 billion, a 34.3 per cent decline from November 2017.

“BC households continue to struggle with the sharp decline in purchasing power caused by the B20 mortgage stress test,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “Most BC regions are now exhibiting relative balance between supply and demand.”

Total active residential listings were up nearly 31 per cent to 33,500 units in November, compared to the same month last year. However, it should be noted that this compares to 2017, when active listings for the month of November were at their lowest level in more than 15 years.

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was down 23.1 per cent to $53.4 billion, compared with the same period in 2017. Residential unit sales declined 23.6 per cent to 74,847 units, while the average MLS® residential price was up 0.7 per cent to $713,302.