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There is just no quit in the home-buying appetite of British Columbians.
The B.C. Real Estate Association says residential sale volumes on the Multiple
Listing Service climbed 44 per cent to $4.66 billion in July, compared to the
same month a year ago.
Despite increasing fears over rising interest rates, home unit sales increased
25 per cent to 10,447 units during the same period, a record number for July
transactions. The average home price hit $446,386, up 15.2 per cent from a year
ago.
"Housing demand is currently broad-based and reaches across the entire
province," said Cameron Muir, the group's chief economist.
"B.C.'s strongest markets are now those noted for recreation and retirement
living. The Okanagan, Kootenay and Vancouver Island markets are all experiencing
an influx of buyers originating from outside their traditional market boundaries."
Over the next 10 years, the number of people in the province aged 65 or over
is estimated to increase by 40 per cent, or more than 250,000 individuals. "We
are seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to housing demand by retirees,"
noted Muir.
So far this year MLS residential sales have climbed 16.6 per cent to $28.3
billion, compared to the first seven months of 2006, while the average price
increased 12.5 per cent to $434,381.
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The price of a new home in Vancouver is up 9.6 per cent from last year, according
to Statistics Canada's latest housing figures released Thursday.
That's higher than the national average of 7.8 per cent.
Robyn Adamache, a senior market analyst for the Canada Mortgage and Housing
Corporation, said despite talk by some people of the real estate bubble bursting,
the Vancouver market for new and resale homes is still steadily heading up.
"What we're seeing there is still very strong price growth. We've seen
sales in Greater Vancouver at about the same level what we saw last year,"
said Adamache.
Vancouver's resale market is a prime example of strong growth, fuelled by the
city's low unemployment rate, higher incomes and rising net migration into B.C.,
she said.
"However, a lot of listings are coming online so people have a lot more
choice out there. Normally under these conditions we expect price growth to
taper back a little bit, but we haven't seen that so much yet."
Despite the continued rise in prices, Vancouver is not the hottest market in
the country. Canada's Prairie provinces are still leading national growth, with
Saskatoon setting a record annual increase of 48.4 per cent.
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As expected British Columbia real estate and homes for sale, from British
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