Stronger consumer confidence among key drivers
Paul Luke
Province
British Colombians’ bottled-up thirst for real estate boiled over into triple-digit gains in house sales last month.
House sales across the province last month soared 165.3 per cent from the low levels of November 2008, the B.C. Real Estate Association said yesterday.
“B. C. home sales remained at an elevated level in November,” association chief economist Cameron Muir said.
“Low mortgage-interest rates, pent-up demand and strong consumer confidence continue to be key drivers in the market.”
The feverish pace of housing sales in Vancouver has driven provincial sales total to near-record levels. The picture’s much the same for the Fraser Valley and Victoria.
Last month saw the largest number of provincial house sales for November since 2005.
So far this year, B.C.’s average house price has risen 1.8 per cent to $463,555 from $455,537 in the same period last year, the association said.
Sales dollar volume for the year to date has climbed 21 per cent to $36.8 billion from the same period last year.
Buyer demand for houses in the Lower Mainland and Victoria housing markets is expected to ease next year.
Pent-up hunger should slowly ease and heftier home prices will erode affordability, the association said.
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