Housing Demand Improves in July, BCREA
Vancouver, BC – August 13, 2019. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 7,930 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in July, an increase of 12.4 per cent from the same month last year. The average MLS® residential price in the province was $684,497, a decline of 1.6 per cent from July 2018. Total sales dollar volume was $5.43 billion, a 10.5 per cent increase from the same month last year.
“BC home sales climbed higher for the first time in 18 months on a year-over-year basis in July,” said BCREA Chief Economist Cameron Muir. Housing demand has also trended higher since March, rising 21 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis. “Households appear to be adjusting to the tighter credit environment as the shock of the B20 stress test dissipates.”
MLS® residential active listings in the province trended lower in July, down 3 per cent from June and 6 per cent from April on a seasonally adjusted basis. Active listings were up 12.4 per cent to 41,621 units on a year-over year basis, while overall market conditions remained unchanged from 12 months ago with the sales-to-active listings ratio at 19.1 per cent.
Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was down 18.9 per cent to $30 billion, compared with the same period in 2018. Residential unit sales decreased 14.4 per cent to 43,612 units, while the average MLS® residential price was down 5.3 per cent to $687,413.
