BC Home Sales on the Rise in May

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 8,221 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in May, a decline of 7 per cent from the same month last year. The average MLS® residential price in the province was $707,829, a decline of 4.3 per cent from May 2018. Total sales dollar volume was $5.8 billion, an 11 per cent decline from the same month last year.

“BC home sales increased 9 per cent in May compared to April, on a seasonally adjusted basis,” said BCREA Chief Economist Cameron Muir. “However, consumers continue to struggle with the negative shock to affordability that stringent mortgage lending policies have created.”

Total MLS® residential active listings were up 23.2 per cent to 41,519 units compared to the same month last year. However, total active listings were down 2 per cent from April, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the first monthly decline since the B20 Stress test was introduced in January 2018.

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was down 25.1 per cent to $19.8 billion, compared with the same period in 2018. Residential unit sales decreased 20.2 per cent to 28,711 units, while the average MLS® residential price was down 6.2 per cent to $688,339.