They say records are meant to be broken and that sentiment certainly rang true for Northern BC home sales last month.
Our region set a new all-time mark in May after 655 home changed hands, smashing the previous record high of 642 set back in August of 2007.
BC Real Estate Association Chief Economist, Brendon Ogmundson recently spoke with Vista Radio.
“The north has actually seen the type of market activity that we were seeing in the rest of the province back in March. Back in March, we were seeing all-time records of home sales in the Lower Mainland and that is what we got this time around in BC Northern.”
“We are starting to see other markets start to cool down a little bit but are still seeing somewhat strong sales. I imagine that is what is going to happen more or less for the north as well as we just hit an all-time record.”
Ogmundson was quick to point out that it wasn’t solely Prince George leading the way for the entire region.
“Prince George wasn’t at its record high, it was about a top-three for the month of May so it’s really kind of the other markets outside of PG where we are seeing demand really get pushed to a record level.”
The average home price in our region is just over 380-thousand dollars, a 17.5% spike when compared to May of 2020.
In Prince George, the average price for a single-family home is a bit higher at 447-thousand.
“We had a real crash in listings similar to what is going on in every market across North America and the north is no different. Active listings are still down 16% year-over-year as there aren’t listings on the market and when we have this kind of demand, this leads to double-digit spikes in pricing.”
Ogmundson expects this trend to continue for at least the next year until more listings are put back into the market.