Here is our latest BC Housing Update. March became the 11th month for employment gains for the province of British Columbia, gaining an additional 35,000 jobs. In addition, the unemployment rate of 6.9% remained unchanged for the month, this is due to the participation rate increasing at the same rate as the number of workers joining the labour force.
Consumer confidence in the real estate industry, paired with historically low interest rates, has allowed the record of monthly home sales to be broken. The March MLS sales broke the monthly record for March with 14,090 properties sold and an average home sale price of $915,464. These statistics have increased 124.7% and 20.3% since the year prior.
The high levels of consumer confidence have also resulted in record listing activity for the month of March, despite active inventory remaining at record lows. The current sales-to-listing ratio is at 86%, which has increased 25 points from the year prior. For the market to return to a more balanced setting, we will need to have the trend of record listing activity to continue for the long term.
Note: The following year-over-year percentage changes may seem extreme due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
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