Vancouver, BC – January 15, 2019. TThe British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 78,345 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in 2018, a decline of 24.5% from the 103,758 units sold in 2017. The annual average MLS® residential price in BC was $712,508, an increase of 0.4% from $709,601 recorded the previous year. Total sales dollar volume was $55.8 billion, a 24.2% decline from 2017.

“BC home sales fell below the 10-year average of 84,800 units in 2018,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “The sharp decline in affordability caused by the B20 mortgage stress test is largely to blame for decline in consumer demand last year.”

A total of 3,497 MLS® residential unit sales were recorded across the province in December, down 39.1% from December 2017. The average MLS® residential price in BC was $695,647, a decline of 5.2% from December 2017. Total sales dollar volume was $2.4 billion, a 42.3% decline during the same period.

Total active residential listings were up 33.3% to 27,615 units in December, the highest December inventory since 2014 when 33,995 active residential listings were recorded.

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