The impact was especially apparent in BC's sales volume and home values
The upward trend in borrowing costs impelled by the Bank of Canada’s outsized rate hikes are continuing to exert pressure on British Columbia’s housing market, with sales volume and home values declining on an annual basis in May.
Latest figures from the British Columbia Real Estate Association showed that a total of 8,214 residential sales took place in the market in May, down by 35.1% from the same month last year.
“Canadian mortgage rates continue to climb,” said Brendon Ogmundson, chief economist at BCREA.
“The average five-year fixed mortgage rate reached 4.49% in June. That is the highest mortgage rates have been since 2009.”
Read more: Cooling-off legislation: What impact will it have on BC market?
Sales totalled $8.2 billion, down by 29.1% from May 2021. This is despite the average MLS residential price in BC growing by 9.3% annually to reach approximately $1 million.
Year-to-date, residential sales dollar volume fell by 14.5% annually for a provincial total of $46.7 billion. During the same period, residential unit sales declined by 26.3% to 43,921 units.
The province saw a 4.4% gain in active listings, its first annual increase since 2019.
“However, active listings still remain below what is typical for a balanced market, though current market conditions have a high degree of variation across regions and product types,” the BCREA said in its data release.
