Home sales in Prince George continue to chug along according to Bob Quinlan with RE/MAX Core Real Estate.

In September, the northern capital saw 91 homes change hands where the average selling price was 447-thousand.

The selling price is up slightly from the same time last year where it was 437-grand.

Quinlan told MyPGNow.com the area west of the bypass and city centre parts of the city did pretty well for themselves.

“That’s where the most sales were and usually are (west of the bypass). We saw 33 sales there last month, which is up and they are up year-over-year with the average sale price at $424,000 last month. In addition, there were only 16 sales in the city centre but still fairly healthy. For the month they were down and compared to last year they were up and the average sale is $356,000.”

He mentioned the Hart and College Heights neighbourhoods remain quite popular even with more people branching out and buying elsewhere in the market.

“We had 23 sales in College Heights and for the month that is up and for the year, it is up. The average sale price there was $472,000. The Hart area had 19 sales in September and compared to the same time last year they are down but for the year they are up. In an area like the Hart where see lots of activity the average sale (price) was $496,000.”

“In the city as a whole, prices are up significantly by about 10 to 15% year-over-year and now what is going to be interesting is the kind of activity we see in the month of October and that will show what the activity looked like towards the end of September. Lenders are tightening up, but the market is still active. There are a lot of people still looking but they have got their limits as to what they can pay.”

Breanne Cote with the BC Northern Real Estate Board noted the local market is starting to cool after a red-hot spring and summer.

“We are seeing a little bit more of an evening out, I don’t want to say it is a slowdown – we are just starting to see things level out.”

In its third-quarter report, the BCNREB reported 5300 properties worth $1.9 billion were sold through the first nine months of 2021.

At this time last year, 3709 properties worth $1.2 billion had changed hands.

In Prince George, to the end of September 1353 properties worth $555.6 million ended up being sold, compared with 1015 properties worth $376.4 million during the same period in 2020.

Forecasting from the British Columbia Real Estate Association anticipates the Northern Real Estate Boards sales in 2021 will reach about 5,400, just shy of the regions all-time record of 5,564 set in 2006.