Across Northern BC there was a 6.1 percent decrease in housing demand due to a struggling forestry sector and an uncertain environment for global trade according to a report done by the BC Northern Real Estate Board.
On Monday, The BCNREB announced housing prices rose by 5.1% to an average of $310,548.
The report also found in Smithers in 2019 the median price for a single-family home is $289,000.
BCNREB Director Sandra Hinchcliffe expects housing in Smithers in 2020 to be like how it was in 2019.
“Our inventory has stayed pretty steady from last year compared to this year. There’s no uptick in inventory which would put maybe a little less stress on the prices but there’s no sign of that happening even in the Winter,” she said.
Hinchcliffe also said the Inventory in Smithers does remain low and pushed up prices.
“I think we had a little bit more of a push in our market from the LNG than I had anticipated for around Smithers so, there’s a lot of demand in Smithers and there seems to be a lot of people moving here,” she said.
Smithers saw 222 sales worth $67 million in 2019 wherein 2018 there were 270 sales work $82.6 million.
In Houston, 52 properties were worth $10.5 million in 2019 which, changed hands from 2018 where 42 properties worth $7.8 million.
Lastly, Burns Lake had 84 properties in 2019 with a value of $13.9 million sold in 2019 wherein 2018 there were 81 properties worth $12.5 million.