British Columbia’s home supply was at its lowest level since 1997 in April, while all regions except Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley saw an increase in home prices.

Despite prices rising in most regions, the province-wide average home price last month was $728,955, a 2% drop from April 2016, according to the British Columbia Real Estate Association’s latest data release published today.

In Greater Vancouver, the average price of a home was $1,056,136 in April, a 3.3% decrease from the same period last year. Meanwhile, Fraser Valley’s average price was $708,633, down 0.3% from April 2016.

Last month, BC’s active residential listings declined 17 per cent from April 2016, and on a seasonally adjusted basis, the province’s supply has dropped 50% since 2012.

A shortage of supply was met with increasing demand, as April’s seasonally adjusted annual rate of home sales was over 106,000 units, substantially above the month’s five-year average of 89,000 units.

Even though April’s year-over-year home sales saw a nearly 24% drop from April 2016, with 9,865 units sold, BCREA Chief Economist Cameron Muir says since March 2017 home sales have trended upwards.

“Compared to March, on a seasonally adjusted basis, [April] home sales are up about 10% in the province, up about 18% in the Fraser Valley and [up] about 15 and a half percent in Vancouver,” Muir tells BuzzBuzzNews.

Most regions saw a year-over-year decline in sales last month, including Greater Vancouver with 3,617 sales, a 26.2% drop from record levels recorded in April 2016.

Muir says this year-over-year decrease in sales reflects levels recorded earlier this year.

“A year ago you saw an extraordinarily high level of sales — a record breaking pace of overall home sales that has since come down to probably more like the winter months of this year,” says Muir.

The province’s total sales dollar volume was $7.19 billion in April, down 25.4% from April 2016.

Year-to-date, BC’s residential unit sales totaled 30,757 in April, a 25% decrease compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, the average price was down 9.2% to $692,220 and the sales dollar volume was down 31.8% to $21.3 billion.

BCREA : BC Inventory Hits A 20-Year Low in April as Home Prices Edge Up in Most Markets by Kerrisa Wilson | Buzz Buzz Home