B.C. Housing Market Plummets To “Historic Averages”

The British Columbia Real Estate Association recently announced home prices in the province are returning to what they were in the past. The housing market last year reached record high making many experts worry about a housing burst.

Statistics from the board shows 4,487 condos, townhouses and detached homes were sold in January which is a decline from January 2016.

Housing transactions also declined 36.5% to $2.79 billion in January over the same period last year. The average home price also dropped to $621,093.

Data from the board suggest the decline in housing transactions was mostly evident in Vancouver, as the city had a lower sales growth of all types of property.

As the city also falls short of luxurious homes, single-family homes, Vancouver saw a great decline in home prices. Furthermore, the participation of foreign buyers has also dropped significantly, thanks to the 15% tax introduced by the provincial government last year to help cool home prices.

The average home price in the Greater Vancouver Area also dropped 3.7% in the past six months but with the previous high home prices in the city last year, home prices are still 15.6% higher than they were in January last year.

According to the association’s chief economist Cameron Muir, the drop in sales activity in Canada’s leading markets is as a result of sales activity taking place in other smaller markets. Many home buyers moved away from hot markets as a result of affordability leading to a drop in sales.

But despite the fact that Victoria experienced a rise in sale activities, the real estate market is going back to what it once was.