Home sales across Northern BC came in at a torrid pace in August.
According to the BC Real Estate Association, 545 home changed hands last month in our region, compared to just 413 units being sold in August of 2019.
Chief Economist, Brendon Ogmundson explained to Vista Radio what caused the 32% year-over-year increase in our region.
“Much like a lot of other markets, we’re seeing a lot of pent up demand from a spring selling season that didn’t happen that got pushed into the summer and we’ll see if it sustains into the fall.”
In July, 545 homes also changed hands, compared to 462 during the same month for the previous calendar year – that resulted in an 18% spike and was also the highest sales mark for our region since 2006.
That’s a year-over-year spike of 18% and is also the highest sales mark for our region since 2006.
He added our region is the prototypical “seller’s market” right now.
“BC Northern is kind of a deep sellers market because there really isn’t a lot of inventory as we saw listings fall by 20% year-over-year while sales were up 32%. Markets were tight as we don’t have a lot of supply.”
In addition, some recent changes to the Bank of Canada’s key interest rate are making it more enticing for people to buy a home.
“Right now, you can borrow a five-year fixed rate at about two percent over a five-year period and after you adjust at two percent inflation that’s essentially borrowing for free. That’s a huge incentive for anyone who is looking to buy.”
“Those low-interest rates are going to be around for a while, the Bank of Canada mentioned last week that they are going to be keeping their policy rate at its current o.25%,” added Ogmundson.
The average home price in our region is 344-thousand dollars, also up 11% from last year.
You would have to dig a little deeper into your wallet to purchase a single-family home in Prince George, where the average price is 438-thousand.
In BC, the current price of a home is $771,309, a near 13% increase from the previous year (2019).