Will we ever see a cool down in the red-hot housing market?
According to the B.C. Real Estate Association’s second quarter housing forecast, the answer is, eventually.
For the here and now, however, a serious supply shortage will continue the trend of homes being snapped up quickly and prices climbing rapidly.
Residential sales in B.C. are forecast to rise 33.6 per cent to 125,600 units this year, after recording 94,013 sales in 2020.
BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson says “home sales across the province are on pace to shatter previous records.”
As the market rises, so do home prices.
The BCEA forecasts a 14.3 per cent rise in the MLS average price this year, followed by a further 3.1 per cent in 2022.
On Vancouver Island, the benchmark (or typical) price of a single-family home hit $659,300 last month, up by four percent from March and 22 percent higher than in April 2020.
The benchmark price of an apartment reached $345,200, a year-over-year increase of 14 percent and four percent higher than in March.
Townhouse prices shot up 21 percent year over year, climbing to $499,200, which was three percent higher than in March.
However, the BCREA predicts some relief for homebuyers as early as next year.
It says that in 2022, sales are expected to pull back by as much as 20 percent.
Ogmundson, says there are “early signs that markets are calming from the frenetic pace of recent months and could balance out over the second half of this year.”
