BC housing markets ‘more resilient than expected:’ Central 1
Posted May 3, 2017 11:13 am.
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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Don’t hold your breath if you’re waiting for a sharp decrease in Vancouver-area home prices.
Home sales in Metro Vancouver and across BC will be down this year, according to Central 1 Credit Union, but less than previously forecast. Its latest outlook predicts a sales decrease of 10 per cent, compared to its previous call for a 17 per cent drop. The umbrella organization for credit unions in BC and Ontario has also upped its expectations for the next three years.
Central 1 Deputy Chief Economist Bryan Yu predicts BC’s median price will dip 2.2 per cent “due to a shift in sales away from Metro Vancouver to less expensive areas and the sale of fewer detached homes and luxury units in Vancouver.” He says relatively more apartments and townhomes are being sold, which is “putting downward pressure on the median price, but individually… their prices are actually rising in the Lower Mainland.”
He says an expected re-sale price decrease of 5.9 per cent is not the same as “pure price erosion.” Yu predicts apartment-style condo prices this year will rise 6.3 per cent and single-detached homes by three per cent.
Yu adds BC’s housing markets “have proven more resilient than expected” adding that with BC’s strong economy, rising population and low interest rates, the effects of the 15 per cent foreign buyers tax in Vancouver and tighter federal rules “have shown signs of fading.”
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