November home sales in BC break record previously set in 2016
Home sales in 2021 were projected to break a record previously set in 2016 last month, and with December to be calculated, that record has already been broken.
The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) is reporting that 9,159 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in November of this year.
The November figure is a 3.4% decrease compared to the same month last year but was enough to surpass the previous record of 112,425 units sold in 2016.
“Provincial MLS home sales reached a new annual record in November with still one month to go in 2021,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson in a statement.
Without factoring in home sales in BC in December, the new record is 117,965.
BCREA
Low-interest rates, pent-up pandemic demand, and a dwindling supply that increased competition were the primary drivers behind this new record.
Total active residential listings continue to decrease, falling a total of 39% year-over-year to what the BCREA is saying is a record low for BC.
The BCREA goes on to say that active listings are about half of the level reached prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume is up 63.6%, reaching $108.7 billion compared to the same span of time in 2020. Residential unit sales were also up 37.7% to 117,973 units, and the average MLS residential price was up 18.8% to $921,806.
BCREA
As of November 2021, Greater Vancouver saw the highest residential average prices across the province. That number saw an increase compared to November 2020, from $1,084,001 to $1,241,774.
BCREA
In a statement released last month, Brendon Ogmundson, the chief economist of the BCREA, said, “While we do not anticipate a repeat of the record-setting market of 2021, we do expect housing market activity to remain vigorous in 2022.”
With files from Kenneth Chan
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