BC Markets Finding Balance at Low Levels of Activity

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 5,373 residential unit sales were recorded in Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) systems in October 2023, an increase of 1.8 per cent from October 2022. The average MLS® residential price in BC was $968,786 up 4.1 per cent compared to October 2022. The total sales dollar volume was $5.2 billion, representing a 6 per cent increase from the same time last year.

“Home sales have slowed as expected given high borrowing costs and a punishing stress test,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “However, the inventory of homes for sale remains quite low, despite a modest uptick in new listings. Consequently, markets have found balance, though at a very low level of activity.”

On a seasonally adjusted basis, active listings in the province have increased for the fifth consecutive month, but still remain low by historical standards and fall short of what is typically required for a sustainable market balance in the long term.

Year-to-date BC residential sales dollar volume was down 13.6 per cent to $63.1 billion, compared with the same period in 2022. Residential unit sales were down 105 per cent to 64,936 units, while the average MLS® residential price was down 3.4 per cent to $971,802.