BC Home Sales Trending Toward Normal Activity

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 8,939 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in April 2022, a decrease of 34.9 per cent from a record April 2021. The average MLS® residential price in BC was $1.065 million, a 12.9 per cent increase from $943,765 recorded in April 2021. Total sales dollar volume was $9.5 billion, a 26.5 per cent decline from the same time last year.

“Canadian mortgages have sharply increased, surpassing 4 per cent for the first time in a decade,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “With interest rates rising, demand across BC is now on a path to normalizing. However, given existing levels of supply, markets conditions remain tight.”

Provincial active listings were 7.5 per cent lower than this time last year, though listings are starting to accumulate in some markets as demand fades. However, it will likely take a year or more for the supply of listings to return to balanced market levels.

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was down 10.7 per cent to $38.4 billion, compared with the same period in 2021. Residential unit sales were down 24.2 per cent to 35,618 units, while the average MLS® residential price was up 17.8 per cent to $1.078 million.