B.C. will remain among the hottest real estate markets
Bruce Constantineau
Sun
The B.C. housing market will remain among the top three markets in Canada this year — along with Alberta and Quebec — as a growing provincial economy creates more first-time buyers, according to a year-end house price survey from Century 21 Canada.
“Sales activity in B.C. will be stronger than almost anywhere else in the country,” Century 21 president Don Lawby said in an interview. “There’s still some pent-up demand in this province because B.C. didn’t start recovering from the recession until later than other parts of Canada.”
He said housing markets in Ontario and other provinces started recovering in the mid- to late 1990s but the B.C. market didn’t really take off until the spring of 2000.
The survey shows that between 1999 and 2004, the price of a typical Richmond home shot up by 53 per cent from $237,800 to $365,000.
Other big price jumps during the five-year period include Vernon (up 49 per cent to $215,000), Abbotsford (up 48 per cent to $309,800) and the south slope of Burnaby (up 45 per cent to $395,000). House prices on the west side of Vancouver rose by 20 per cent to $671,000.
The highest percentage increase in all of Canada took place in Gloucester, Ont., where the price of a typical two-storey home rose by 92 per cent to $324,600. The lowest price increase in the survey occurred in Estevan, Sask., where the price of a detached bungalow remained unchanged at $99,900.
Lawby expects Lower Mainland house sales will remain flat or drop slightly this year but feels the market will perform better in other parts of the province.
Greater Vancouver sales on the Multiple Listing Service fell by 14 per cent in January but Lawby does not expect that trend to continue.
“All of the things that are in the cards for B.C. economically indicate we’ll have as good a market this year as we had in 2004,” he said, noting that a small projected increase in new B.C. housing starts this year means the resale market should perform well.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. officials predicted Thursday that B.C. housing starts will increase by 2.1 per cent this year to 33,600 units — the highest provincial increase in the country. National housing starts are expected to decline by 7.3 per cent to 216,300.
Credit Union Central of B.C. chief economist Helmut Pastrick said the B.C. housing market will be more “sane and balanced” this year, with prices and selling activity increasing slightly but not so much that frenzied buyers are forced to rush their decisions.
“The gains in the market will be very small when compared with a year ago but it will still be a good market with high levels of activity,” he said. “Interest rates should come down a bit more this year, which will help affordability.
Pastrick said continued job growth in B.C. and positive interprovincial migration numbers will also work to boost market activity this year. He noted B.C., which suffered from a negative outflow of people to other parts of Canada in the late 1990s, had a positive inflow of about 5,200 people from other parts of the country during the first three quarters of last year.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005