Strong Start to the Summer, But Higher Interest Rates Loom

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 8,740 residential unit sales were recorded in Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) systems in June 2023, an increase of 21.9 per cent from June 2022. The average MLS® residential price in BC was $991,648, up 4.7 per cent compared to June 2022. The total sales dollar volume was $8.7 billion, representing a 27.6 per cent increase from the same time last year.

“June home sales continued to outperform expectations, following a very strong rebound in May,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “However, rising interest rates will likely dampen home sales activity in coming months.”

Active listings in the province were above 30,000 units for the first time since September 2022, but were still down 1.2 per cent compared to this time last year, and essentially flat month-over-month on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Year-to-date BC residential sales dollar volume was down 26.1 per cent to $39.4 billion, compared with the same period in 2022. Residential unit sales were down 21.1 per cent to 40,381 units, while the average MLS® residential price was down 6.4 per cent to $976,885.