Both total residential resale transactions across BC and the province’s average sale price jumped in January 2020, resulting in an annual rise in total dollar volume of 35%, the BC Real Estate Association reported February 13.

The BCREA said that a total of 4,426 residential MLS sales were recorded across the province in January 2020, an increase of 23.7% over January 2019.

The average home resale price was $725,370, which is a 9.1% increase from $664,633 recorded the previous January.

“Housing markets in BC are off to a strong start in 2020,” said Brendon Ogmundson, BCREA’s chief economist. “We expect a much more typical year of home sales in 2020 as markets recover from the policy-induced slowdown of the past two years.”

However, the results vary when broken down by region, said the BCREA.

The biggest year-over-year gains in sales activity were seen in Chilliwack (up 69.4%), South Okanagan (up 44.9%) and the province’s biggest market, Greater Vancouver (up 43%). Of the larger markets, the areas not keeping pace with last year are BC Northern (down 10.3%) and Vancouver Island (down 7.4%).

“While many markets are showing strong signs of recovery, the struggling forestry sector is having a clear impact on housing demand, particularly in the North and parts of Vancouver Island,” added Ogmundson.

Price trends around the province differed from sales activity, with the Fraser Valley, Victoria and South Okanagan seeing the steepest annual jumps in average home sale prices, but BC Northern still up 6.4% from last year. The only major market with prices lower than one year previously was Greater Vancouver (down 1.7%).

Powell River also dropped significantly in both sales totals and average price, but at only 11 units sold in January, this tiny market often sees major percentage swings that don’t necessarily signify a trend.

Check out the BCREA’s full regional breakdown, below, and its January 2020 report here.

BCREA : BC Residential Sales, Prices Jump Year Over Year by Joannah Connolly | Glacier Media Real Estate | BIV