B.C. home sales stayed strong in August but experts predict change is coming

Sep 14, 2017 | 9:30 AM

VANCOUVER — The association representing realtors in British Columbia says home sales remained healthy across the province in August, but it expects to see a change over the coming months.

The B.C. Real Estate Association says 9,162 residential properties were sold in August.

That’s a 2.4 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.

The total dollar value of all sales climbed significantly to $6.2 billion, a 22 per cent jump from August 2016, while the association says the average property price was up 19.1 per cent to $678,186.

Association chief economist Cameron Muir points to strong economic conditions propelling the August sales, which he says mirror figures in July on a seasonally adjusted basis.

But Muir also warns that climbing mortgage rates and home prices could dampen housing markets this fall.

“Rising home prices combined with upward pressure on mortgage interest rates is expected to temper demand over the balance of the year,” Muir says in a news release.

Year-to-date figures in 2017 are still overshadowed by the sizzling first half of last year’s residential property market in B.C., with sales dollar volume down 15.9 per cent to $51.8 billion when compared with the first eight months of 2016.

Residential sales dipped 15 per cent over the same period while the association says the average property price was down 1.1 per cent to $706,839.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press