BC home sales have fallen since mid-2016, but still reached impressive heights last year. According to the BC Real Estate Association (BCREA), 112,209 homes were sold in the province in 2016 — that’s a 9.5% increase from the previous year and a new record.

In a January 13th release, the organization says that the province’s total home sales dollar volume also hit a new record in 2016, jumping 18.8% year-over-year to reach $77.6 billion. Meanwhile, the average MLS home price in the province came in at $691,144 after rising 8.6% over the same period.

BCREA Chief Economist Cameron Muir, has commented that all of those increases were driven by “[b]road-based consumer demand.” That demand was the result of “strong economic conditions, employment growth, consumer confidence, and an expanding population base.”

December 2016 BC home sales and price stats are also included in the release. A total of 4,721 homes were sold in the province that month, while the average MLS home price was $654,699. Those are year-over-year declines of 28.4% and 6.6%, respectively.

As mentioned, home sales in the province began to decline midway through 2016. Metro Vancouver’s foreign-buyer tax was a major force behind the fall, though sales were beginning to sink even before it was introduced on August 2nd. Other factors believed to have contributed to the decline include Canada’s new mortgage rules and Vancouver’s new empty homes tax.

Home prices in BC have been slower to fall, but are expected to continue to sinking in 2017, particularly in Metro Vancouver. Most recently, Royal LePage called for Metro Vancouver to see a “high single-digit price correction in 2017.”

A Record 112,209 Homes Were Sold in BC in 2016 by Charlotte McLeod | Buzz Buzz Home