Kamloops Real Estate Blog

Vancouver, BC – February 11, 2015. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its 2015 First Quarter Housing Forecast Update today.

“Stronger economic conditions both at home and abroad combined with favourable interest rates and population growth are expected to bolster housing demand over the next two years,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “After a year in which housing demand ratcheted higher across the province, the retrenchment of oil prices is expected to attenuate housing demand in some regions while bolstering it in others.”

Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales in British Columbia are forecast to rise 2.4 per cent to 86,050 units this year and a further 3.9 per cent to 89,400 units in 2016. The ten-year average is 82,100 unit sales. A record 106,300 MLS® residential sales were recorded in 2005.

The average MLS® residential sales price is forecast to rise 4.5 per cent to $594,000 this year, with most of the upward pressure being exhibited on the South Coast. Elevated consumer demand is expected to be partially offset by resale inventories and additions to the housing stock in 2016. As a result, the average MLS® residential sales price is forecast to increase by 2.4 per cent to $608,500 next year.

To view the full BCREA Housing Forecast Update, click here.

This article appeared on the BC Local News Website on January 21, 2015 and was written by Jeff Nagel.

Housing prices in B.C. should rise modestly this year after stronger gains in 2014, according to a new forecast by Central 1 Credit Union.

The association of B.C. credit unions predicts a 2.5 per cent increase in resale home prices in 2015 and similar increases of between two and three per cent out as far as 2018.

Bryan Yu, senior economist with Central 1, sees continued strength in urban real estate markets.

“I think sky-high prices in Greater Vancouver have more room to grow with little risk of a significant downturn,” Yu said.

One trend he expects to continue is the divergence in price growth between detached houses and multi-family units.

“While condo markets have been soft, with median home values flat since 2010, detached values have surged,” Yu said. “Single-family housing is increasingly a luxury good detached from income drivers.”

His Report predicts home prices in Metro Vancouver will continue to be underpinned by the scarcity of developable land, the growing population and international demand.

It says the collapse in the price of oil will be generally positive for real estate markets, because it leaves more discretionary money in consumers’ pockets.

But crude’s plunge is painful for Albertans and will restrain their demand for B.C. recreational property in the Interior and Vancouver Island.

The lower Canadian dollar, however, has made real estate here more affordable relative to the rising prices of U.S. homes, the report notes.

Central 1 expects no increase in interest rates until early 2016 but expects five-year rates will average 6.5 per cent in 2018.

“Record-low mortgage rates will not last indefinitely, but will remain low enough to underpin housing market demand this year and next.”

 

BC Real Estate Association (BCREA) Chief Economist Cameron Muir discusses the December 2014 statistics.