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B.C. home sales have record-breaking $7.5 billion month in February


Blog by Andrew Reid | March 14th, 2016


B.C. home sales have record-breaking $7.5 billion month in February
 

More than $7.5 billion changed hands in February as home sales across the province had a record-breaking month, according to the B.C. Real Estate Association.

More than $7.5 billion changed hands in February as home sales across the province had a record-breaking month, according to the B.C. Real Estate Association.

The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) recorded 9,637 residential unit sales last month, an increase of 44.7 per cent over sales in February 2015. The total value of those sales was up 76.4 per cent over last year.

That makes this February the hottest on record, as the number of sales easily broke the last high mark for the month of 8,157 homes sold in February 1992.

“Housing demand is now at a break-neck pace,” Cameron Muir, the BCREA’s chief economist, said in a news release.

“Home sales last month were not only a record for the month of February, but on a seasonally adjusted basis, demand has never been stronger in the province.”

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Nearly half of the sales recorded last month (4,254) were in the greater Vancouver area, where homes sold for an average price of $1.1 million — an increase of 25.6 per cent over prices in February of last year.

The average home price across the province rose to $779,419 last month, marking a 21.9-per-cent increase from a year ago. So far this year, $11.9 billion worth of homes have sold in B.C., a 73.6-per-cent increase over the same period in 2015.

Muir said that while housing starts have also hit a record high, the new supply isn’t expected to relieve the pressure on the market any time soon.



Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/home+sales+have+record+breaking+billion+month+february/11783822/story.html#ixzz42tqk0NJU