According to a new report by the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA), BC’s historically hot spring market is heating up again this year.
Home sales and prices in British Columbia shot back up in May after a slowdown that started towards the end of last year. The BCREA recorded a total of 9,191 residential unit sales in May 2023, up 9.9 per cent from the same time last year.
“Home sales in May were surprisingly strong,” Brendon Ogmondson, BCREA Chief Economist said. “Normally we’d expect to see a more persistent, negative impact from the last year of rising interest rates on sales. Instead, sales staged an early recovery in the spring, returning to a normal pace of sales well ahead of schedule.”
Home prices in the province have also begun to climb again, reaching over $1 million for the first time since April 2022.
Naturally, the largest and most desirable regions in the province also boast the highest home prices – with homes in Greater Vancouver, Victoria and the Fraser Valley reaching well over the benchmark price of $1 million.
Prospective buyers looking for more affordable homes might have better luck looking in the Interior and Northern regions of the province. According to BCREA data, South Peace and BC Northern had the lowest home prices at $309,359 and $418,776 respectively.
Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was down 33.9 per cent to $30.8 billion compared with the same period in 2022.
