A slow September for B.C

Sunday October 22, 2023

British Columbia home sales have been hit by the interest rate hikes the Bank of Canada reignited in June. According to the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA), the province’s average home price went up by 4.9 per cent last month, compared to September 2022.

BCREA Chief Economist, Brendon Ogmundson, reports, “Home sales in BC have clearly been impacted by the Bank of Canada’s recent tightening of interest rates, along with the resulting surge in mortgage rates.”

The association reports that total September sales was about $5.3 billion, nearly a 16 per cent jump from September the prior year.
Compared to that same period, year-to-date sales volume went down by 15 per cent, to nearly $58 billion.
Unit sales also decreased by 11.5 per cent, to 59,570 units, while year-to-date average price dropped 4 per cent to $972,049.

However, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential home sales in the region totalled 1,926 in September 2023, a 13.2 per cent increase from the 1,701 sales recorded in September 2022. This was 26.3 per cent below the 10-year seasonal average (2,614).
A key dynamic that we’ve been watching this year has been the reluctance of some homeowners to list their homes given that mortgage rates are the highest they’ve been in over ten years,” Andrew Lis, REBGV’s director of economics and data analytics, said. “With fewer listings coming to the market earlier this year than usual, inventory levels remained very low, which led prices to increase throughout the spring and summer months.”