The 84,049 home sales transacted in 2014 were more than any year since 2009, according to statistics that the British Columbia Real Estate Association released January 13.
Sales were not only up 15.2% compared with 2013 but they were also above the 10-year average of approximately 82,000 units and above the 15-year average of about 83,600 units.
“BC experienced a significant increase in housing demand last year,” said BCREA chief economist Cameron Muir. “Not since the post-recession rebound of 2009 has the market posted such a turn around.”
The total dollar volume from those sales was $47.8 billion, which was 21.9% above the 2013 total.
The average B.C. residential home tracked by the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) rose in price to $568,405, which is 5.8% more than in 2013.
Prior to 2009, one would need to look back to the 2001-2002 period to find a stronger year-over-year percentage gain in B.C. home sales, according to the BCREA.
“Stronger consumer demand not only pulled down the inventory of homes for sale, but also firmed market conditions throughout the province,” added Muir.
Across B.C., the strongest increase in sales was the 66.4% jump in the so-called Northern Lights area, which includes Dawson Creek. Next was Chilliwack with a 61.8% jump in year-over-year sales. Kamloops had a total of 39,266 sales in 2014, or 123 fewer than the year before, thereby being the only area of the province that the BCREA identified as having a dip in sales in 2014.
