Real estate sales in Powell River for January 2020 were down from the same month of the previous year.
During January 2020, a total of eight single-family homes sold, valued at $2,746,800. This compares to 13 units in 2019, valued at $4,942,000.
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Single-family mobile sales were comparable, with one unit valued at $95,000 selling in January 2020, compared to one unit valued at $119,000 in 2019.
In terms of single-family condos/apartments/duplexes, there were two sales in January 2020, valued at $498,500. This compares to four sales valued at $1,077,000 in January 2019.
There was more vacant land sold this year compared to the previous year. In January 2020, there were three parcels of land, valued at $644,000, compared to two parcels, valued at $530,000, for January 2019.
Grand totals show 14 units, valued at $3,984,300 in January 2020, compared to 20 units, valued at $6,668,900, in January 2019.
In January 2020, the average selling price was $343,350, compared to $380,154 in January 2019. The average days on market in 2020 was 59, compared to 69 in 2019.
Powell River Sunshine Coast Real Estate Board president Neil Frost said January sales were quiet.
“We’re in such a slow time of year that it only takes a handful of transactions to make bit percentage changes up or down,” said Frost. “It’s still active and we’re still hoping to get some new listings coming up.”
Frost said when he looks at the numbers, the average home price, even though the average price comparing the January 2019 and January 2020 is down 9.7 per cent, prices are still holding steady.
“The predictions for this year are for a slight increase in volume,” said Frost. “Prices are also forecast to remain stable. It’s pretty much the same song from the past year. There’s buyers out there.”
Factors such as the weather and the forestry strike could have influenced the January market in Powell River, according to Frost.
Provincially, the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports a total of 4,426 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in January 2020, an increase of 23.7 per cent from the 3,579 units sold in January 2019. The average MLS residential price in BC was $725,370, a 9.1 per cent increase from $664,633 recorded the previous year. Total sales dollar volume in January was $3.2 billion, a 35 per cent increase over 2019.
“Housing markets in BC are off to a strong start in 2020,” said BCREA chief economist Brendon Ogmundson. “We expect a much more typical year of home sales in 2020 as markets recover from the policy-induced slowdown of the past two years.”
Total MLS residential active listings fell 12.6 per cent to 25,790 units compared to the same month last year. The ratio of sales to active residential listings increased to 17.2 per cent from just 12.1 per cent last January.
“While many markets are showing strong signs of recovery,” said Ogmundson, “the struggling forestry sector is having a clear impact on housing demand, particularly in the North and parts of Vancouver Island.”
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says construction of new homes in Canada’s six largest cities rose four per cent year-over-year during the first half of 2024, but housing starts were still not enough to meet growing demand.
The agency says growth in housing starts was driven by significant gains in Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal.
A total of 68,639 units began construction, the second strongest figure since 1990, however the rate of housing starts per capita meant activity was around the historical average and not enough “to reduce the existing supply gap and improve affordability for Canadians.”
The report says new home construction trends varied significantly across the markets studied, as Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa saw declines ranging from 10 to 20 per cent from the same period last year.
Apartment starts in the six regions increased slightly, driven by construction of new units for rent, as nearly half of the apartments started in the first half of 2024 were purpose-built rentals.
But condominium apartment starts fell in the first six months of the year in most cities, a trend which the agency predicts will continue amid soft demand as developers struggle to reach minimum pre-construction sales required.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
