Total sales hit $37.8b
Ashley Ford
Province
Last year was a very good year — but not quite a vintage one — in the value of B.C. home sales.
The B.C. Real Estate Association said yesterday that 2006 sales on the Multiple Listing Service reached $37.8 billion, a seven-per-cent increase from 2005.
But actual residential real-estate sales fell nine per cent to 96,695 units from a record 106,290 sales in 2005.
“Despite strong job growth, low unemployment and rising wages, homes sales slowed in the province during the second half of 2006,” said Cameron Muir, the association’s chief economist.
“The housing market is adjusting to an affordability squeeze resulting from high home prices,” he said.
The average selling price of a B.C. home shot up by 18 per cent to $390,760 from $332,137 in 2005.
In spite of ramped-up prices, Muir sees this year remaining strong despite a slight cooling in sales. The association is projecting 93,600 MLS sales this year, a three-per-cent cut from last year.
“A robust provincial economy combined with forecasted interest rate stability will keep home sales above their long-term average,” he said.
Despite the high prices Muir suggests the market is becoming more balanced.
“Fewer first-time buyers and investors and a modest increase in the number of listings is trending the housing market toward balanced conditions,” he said.
Sales to active listings fell from 27 per cent in December 2005 to 17 per cent last December 2006, indicating a shift from a strong sellers’ market to the upper band of a balanced market.
“The erosion of affordability will slow this year. The average home price in B.C. is forecast to climb seven per cent to $419,000 in 2007,” he said.
© The Vancouver Province 2007