The Northern Real Estate Board released their 2015 first quarter report today.
Across Northern BC, NREB President David Black says they have seen a moderate drop from this time last year.
“Areas that are closely linked to oil and gas, the northeast and the westcoast are down a little bit more. I think a lot of it has to do with uncertainty around what the long term effects of lower oil prices will be.”
He says that looking into the future, the whole north is waiting on LNG development.
“There is billions and billions of dollars on the board for the north. But until one of them says ‘yes we are going to start, shovels in the dirt next month’… That’s what we are going to need to bolster everyone’s confidence.”
Overall the board reported 856 sales totalling $213M in Q1 of 2015. The same period last year saw 1005 sales valued at $248M.
As for Prince George, growth in the southwest of the city has driven the average price of a home up to $276k from $269k this time last year. Sales activity remains more or less flat; 244 properties valued at 61.5 million dollars moved hands in Q1 of 2015.
Black added that PG’s diversified economy is what has caused the city to buck the overall Northern BC trend.
Vanderhoof saw an increase in both sales activity and the average price of a home, up to just under $200k from $176k in 2014.
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