MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
What an exciting year we have ahead of us! Based on the current market trends in BC, the Chief Economists with Central 1 have predicted the following for BC’s real estate:
Fraser Valley and Greater Vancouver:
In BC, both the Fraser Valley and Greater Vancouver areas were hit the hardest with the 2018 and 2019 real estate slow down. You will even see that your property tax assessment has most likely dropped as well. At the end of 2019, we saw strong sales and a rebound in the Lower Mainland. With signs of both the Fraser Valley and Greater Vancouver currently being in a ‘sellers market’ (this means that a large number of active listings for sale are being sold each month), economists are predicting that these areas will continue to see rising price trends in 2020, especially in East Vancouver and Vancouver West (Downtown, West side of Vancouver, etc).
Okanagan and Interior
Sales rose 9.5% in 2019 for the Okanagan. Economists are stating that much of the Interior’s house pricing is at or near balanced.
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is still going strong, with all areas up by as much as 8%, except for Parksville, which was the only city to see a dip by 1%. Campbell River took the lead with the highest price increase over the past year.
Victoria
Victoria’s real estate board stated that the city has low inventory levels. Those low inventory levels are quickly being sold, as buyers have been waiting on the sidelines to purchase properties. They have seen multiple offer situations, due to the low supply, and are expecting home prices to go up in 2020.