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HomeNewsHousing sales in Northern BC see 39% decline in the past year

Housing sales in Northern BC see 39% decline in the past year

The north continues to lag behind the rest of the province when it comes to the overall recovery of the housing market according to the BC Real Estate Association.

Our region has seen a 39% year-over-year decline in home sales – just 289 unit sales were tallied last month, compared to 475 in March of 2022.

Economist, Ryan McLaughlin spoke with Vista Radio on the topic.

“Relatively speaking, the north isn’t showing as much of a pickup compared to the rest of the province like Chilliwack and the Fraser Valley where they really picked up last month. However, sometimes the north lags a little bit from other markets.”

Over the past 12 months, active listings have risen by 44% going from 1,073 in March of 2022, to 1,546 last month.

However, McLaughlin noted when you examine it a little closer they have flatlined since January, which indicates a tightening of the market.

“That’s a sign of a changing in a direction in the north as well – the fact that active listings are changing direction as active listings are going down means that there are more sales than there are new listings going up, which is a sign of a tightening in the market.”

“We are still down from where we would like to be. We are way down from where we were in 2015 and 2016. It is interesting that it changed direction – since one year ago when rates started getting tightened the market has been softening and what that typically meant was falling sales, falling prices, and falling active listings. Now with active listings trending down in the north in the past two months, it could be a sign the market is re-tightening again.”

The average home price in the north is $384,271. In Prince George, single-detached homes sold for just over 511 grand in March.

In BC, the average house price is $961,451.

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