BC sets real estate record

Despite various roadblocks placed in its major market

BC sets real estate record
British Columbia enjoyed record real estate sales in 2016, with 112,209 total residential homes sold – an increase of 9.5% year-over-year.

“Broad-based consumer demand driven by strong economic conditions, employment growth, consumer confidence, and an expanding population base pushed home sales to record levels in many BC regions last year," Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist, said.
"However, home sales have fallen back from their lofty peaks early last year."

Total sales dollar volume increased 18.8% year-over-year to $77.6 billion and the average price jumped 8.6% to $691,144.

“A total of 4,721 residential unit sales were recorded by the MLS in December, down 28.4 per cent from the same month last year,” the British Columbia Real Estate Association said in a release. “Total sales dollar volume was $3.1 billion last month, a decline of 33.1 per cent compared to the same month the previous year.

“The average MLS residential price in the province was $654,699 in December, a 6.6 per cent decline from December 2015.”