According to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), B.C.’s housing market is set to cool in 2012 and 2013 after a hot 2011.
In 2011, sales activity was up 2.8%, with 76,721 units being sold. But in its updated forecast for 2012, the CREA projects sales of 75,300 residential units in B.C., a decrease of 1.9%.
In 2013, the CREA predicts a modest sales increase of 0.3% for the province.
In 2011, the average home price across Canada was up 7.1% to $363,116. In B.C. that number jumped to 11.1%, with the average home costing $561,304.
In its forecast, the CREA projects B.C.’s average home price to fall 4% to $539,100 in 2012.
The association expects prices to level off in 2013 at $541,800, up 0.5% from the previous year.
Nationally, resale housing activity is forecast to reach 458,800 units in 2012, an annual increase of 0.3%.
Rising demand in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia is expected to offset slower activity in B.C., Ontario and New Brunswick.
The CREA noted that multimillion-dollar sales activity in Vancouver caused the national average price to temporarily spike in early 2011.
As this phenomenon is not expected to recur in 2012, the national average price is forecast to dip by 1.1% in 2012 to $359,100.
Nationally, prices are expected to rise modestly in 2013, with the national average inching up 0.9% to $362,300.
