B.C. retail sales increased 0.8% in November to $8.3 billion despite the drag of flooding and landslides in parts of the province.
This reversed a 0.2% decline in October. Sales in the Vancouver metro area increased 0.8% in November, a much slower rate of growth than in October, which came in at 1.7%. In the rest of B.C., excluding the Vancouver metro area, sales increased by 0.9% in November after a decline of 1.2% in October.
Leading the increase in B.C. were higher sales at gas stations and at food and beverage stores.
Year-to-date, retail sales in B.C. remained ahead of last year’s pace by 13.6%, even higher than the 11.9% national figure. Sales in the Vancouver metropolitan area and B.C. excluding Vancouver metro remained 18% and 10.1% higher, respectively. That said, much of this year-over-year strength owed to a rising trend through 2020, with sales generally flat through 2021. Consumers are increasingly pivoting back towards services demand, notwithstanding COVID-19 restrictions.
December numbers will likely show a contraction as the Omicron variant weighed on spending.
British Columbia home sales slipped in December after two consecutive months of gains due to factors such as buyer fatigue, affordability erosion, inclement weather and lack of supply slowed activity. That said, overall demand remained robust to cap off the year.
December sales fell 2.4% to a seasonally adjusted 9,554 units while new listings fell 3.9%. Above-average sales continued to whittle down supply, cutting active listings by 40% from a year ago and marking a new record low level. The sales-to-active-listings ratio rose to 56% as market conditions continued to tighten.
Tight market conditions have driven prices higher into 2022 as buyers and investors scrounge for the limited number of available homes for sale. The average price increased for a fifth consecutive month in December. The average resale home price in B.C. that month moved up an additional 2.4% to a record $1.02 million.
Annual metrics posted strong double-digit growth in 2021 over 2020. Sales and new listings increased by 32.9% and 11.0% respectively while the average price increased 17.5%, surpassing the already robust growth posted last year of 12%.
Of the twelve regions in B.C., sales fell in all but three areas in December: Chilliwack (up 1.1%), Fraser Valley (up 6.4%), and Powell River (up 46.4%). Sales remained unchanged in Vancouver Island. That said, sales growth in 2021 was strong across the board. Greater Vancouver and Vancouver Island posted 42% growth and 18.5% growth respectively.
Bryan Yu is chief economist at Central 1 Credit Union.
