House sales fall 54%

BCREA release – British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports residential sales dollar volume on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in BC declined 54% to $1.69 billion in October, compared to October 2007.

Residential unit sales were down 51% to 4,018 units during the same period. The average MLS® residential price in the province was $420,259, down 6.5% from October 2007.

“Housing demand was negatively affected by the global financial crisis and a sharp downturn in the equity markets,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “These events exacerbated an already low level of consumer confidence, keeping many potential homebuyers on the sidelines.”

Residential sales in October were the lowest since December 2000, on a seasonally adjusted basis. “Home sales are unlikely to fall much further,” added Muir. “While the provincial economy has weakened, the fundamentals support a higher level of home sales than experienced last month.”

Year-to-date MLS® residential sales dollar volume in the province declined 27% to $29.2 billion compared to the same period last year. Provincial MLS® sales declined 30% to 63,760 units, while the average residential price increased 5% to $458,078 over the same period.

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