After a brief flurry of activity in May, home sales in BC in June saw a typical early summer decline, according to statistics released July 14 by the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA).

The BCREA reported that 6,960 residential unit sales were recorded by the province’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in June, a drop of 15.3% from May’s 8,221 sales.

It’s also a decline of 11.8% compared with the same month last year, according to the association.

BCREA hinted that sales could have been higher if the qualifying interest rate for borrowers was less onerous and had eased in line with declining mortgage rates (see graph below). “BC home sales moderated lower in June after a stronger showing in May,” said Brendon Ogmundson, BCREA’s deputy chief economist. “While mortgage rates offered by lenders have moved below 3%, a static qualifying rate has limited the impact of the lower cost of borrowing.” The comment follows BCREA’s study findings issued July 10, which reported that sales in 2018 would have been 10% higher without the mortgage stress test.

Source : BCREA Economics

The average home resale price in the province in June was $687,584, said the BCREA, which is four per cent lower than in June 2018. Total sales dollar volume was reported at $4.8 billion for the month, a 15.3% decline from the same month last year.

The slower absorption rate has pushed the total number of BC homes available on the MLS up 18.6% year over year, to 42,625 units.

The markets vary widely from region to region across BC, however. Most of the major declines in June were in Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Northern BC – including Prince George and Kitimat – as well as Vancouver Island and Victoria are all seeing robust markets in different ways, with home resale prices in Northern BC up 9% year over year. Victoria’s resale prices are down slightly, but the capital region is still in a strong seller’s market, with a sales-to-active-listings ratio of nearly 29%. Vancouver Island home sales are down on an annual basis, but average resale prices are still rising, up nearly five per cent year over year.

The BCREA is optimistic that home sales across the whole province will gradually improve over the next two years, according to its latest forecast.

Across the country, home sales in June were a modest 0.3% higher than one year previously, with more substantial annual gains in Toronto and Montreal offsetting BC’s losses, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

However, compared with May’s sales, Canada-wide home transactions were down 0.2% in June.

The national average price for a home sold in June was just under $505,500, up 1.7% from the same month last year, said CREA.

Home Sales Down in BC on Annual Basis, Up Nationwide by Joannah Connolly | Glacier Media Real Estate | Business in Vancouver