The BC Northern Real Estate Board, which includes Prince George, the Cariboo, and Bulkley Lakes recorded its best March ever for home sales.
According to BC Real Estate Association Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson, it was a record-setting month for our province posting over 15-thousand home sales.
That’s a year-over-year increase of 123% when compared to March of 2020.
He adds the spike was almost identical across the north.
“The north saw 551 sales, up 123% over last year, and in Prince George, it was the best March since 2006 with sales up around 134% so it more than doubled.”
“There is a lot of upward pressure on prices. In Prince George, they were up 15%, and in general, there is a lot of pressure on the housing stock in the north who don’t have enough listings to observe this kind of demand.”
Ogmundson adds while posting record-breaking year-over-year sales increases is nice, the number of active listings continues to plunge.
“We are certainly seeing a real drought in terms of supply. Nearly every market in the province hit record-low levels of active listings. The good news is that people are responding to higher prices and new listings will really pick up. But, it’s going to take quite some time to catch up with demand.”
The average price in the region has spiked nearly 29% over the past 12-months to the tune of 374-grand.
“A lot of that increase is kind of being skewed because of the pandemic and there is a lot of demand for single-detached homes,” added Ogmundson.
In PG, the average selling price for single-detached homes was roughly $451,000.