Average BC home price at the start of 2022 was over $1 million, up by 23.5%

Feb 14 2022, 11:33 pm

Home prices in British Columbia reached an average of $1.042 million in January 2022, representing a staggering 23.5% year-over-year increase from the $843,918 recorded in January 2021.

According to BC Real Estate Association’s analysis of local real estate board data, there were a total of 6,138 home sales across the province over the month, which is a 14.7% decrease from a year ago.

Total active listings were still near-record-low levels with only 13,000 total listings across the province. This is significantly lower than the 40,000 listings for a healthier market; there is currently a deficit of about 25,000 listings.

As a result of the low inventory, home prices continue to be pushed upwards.

“Sales activity is down compared to record levels at the start of last year,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson in a statement.

“However, the level of sales activity remains strong compared to the long-term average and inventory is still incredibly low. As a result, it will take quite some time to get back to healthy balance in the BC market.”

bc real estate association listings january 2022

Available BC home listings statistics. (BC Real Estate Association)

Within the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver’s (REBGV) jurisdiction, the average home price reached $1.274 million in January 2022 — up by 17% from $1.089 million in January 2021. There were just 5,987 active listings over the month, down by 32% compared to the 8,832 active listings at the start of last year. The sales-to-active-listings ratio changed from 27.8% in January 2021 to 38.9% in January 2022.

REBGV reported $2.968 billion in total home sales for the month of January 2022 — up by 11% compared to the same month in 2021. This was produced from the sale of 2,329 homes, representing a 5% decrease from the 2,455 sales in January 2021.

For the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB), which also covers Metro Vancouver areas such as Surrey, White Rock, North Delta, and Langley, the average home price reached $1.231 million last month — up by 30% from $945,000 in January 2021. This jurisdiction saw only 1,794 active listings in January 2022, representing a decrease of 49% from the 3,508 active listings a year ago. The ratio for sales-to-active-listings shifted from 45.8% in January 2021 to 69.6% in January 2022.

The total value of home sales in FVREB in January 2022 reached $1.537 billion, which is up by only 1.3% from January 2021. There was a 22% year-over-year drop in the number of homes sold — 1,606 units in January 2021 vs. 1,249 units in January 2022.

Across the province, the sales-to-active listings ratio went up from 35.5% in January 2021 to 47% in January 2022.

The jurisdiction with the highest sales-to-active-listings ratio in BC was Greater Victoria at 92.4% — up from 61.4% in January 2021.

Economists state a downward pressure on home prices occurs when the ratio drops below 12% for a sustained period, while home prices typically go upwards when the ratio exceeds 20% for several months.

The provincial total for the value of homes sold in January 2022 reached $6.4 billion, which is a 5.3% increase compared to the same month last year.

Kenneth ChanKenneth Chan

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