BC Real Estate Association numbers point to market 'uptrend' at beginning of 2024

Homes are pictured in Vancouver on April 16, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

The BC Real Estate Association says there was a nearly 30 per cent increase in home sales last month compared with January 2023, while prices were also up.

The association says 3,979 sales were completed last month, for an average price of $957,909, a more than 10-per-cent jump from the year before.

Association chief economist Brendon Ogmundson says the sales numbers show a “clear uptrend” to kick off 2024 with a dollar value of $3.8 billion in sales for the month.

Ogmundson says declining mortgage rates and further interest rate cuts expected to be made by the Bank of Canada this year are both “driving sentiment in the market and bring pent-up demand off the sidelines.”

The Fraser Valley and Greater Vancouver saw the greatest year-over-year jumps in unit sales and dollar volumes.

Sales in Chilliwack last month topped $144.6 million, a more than 73-per-cent jump from last year, while in Greater Vancouver sales reached $1.78 billion, a 48.4-per-cent increase.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2024.