BC Northern Real Estate Board MLS® Home Sales In 2022 Subdued

January 16, 2023

WYNNETTE LOWES

PRINCE GEORGE – The number of homes sold through the MLS® System of the BC Northern Real Estate Board totaled 169 units in December 2022. This was a substantial decline of 33.2 per cent from December 2021.

Home sales were 23.2 per cent below the five-year average and 19.9 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of December.

On an annual basis, home sales totaled 4,271 units over the course of 2022. This was a large decline of 22.2 per cent from the same period in 2021.

“Home sales finished the year on a subdued note, carrying on the momentum of lower activity after the rapid increase of interest rates over the course of 2022. Annual sales were nowhere near levels from 2021 but otherwise stood at average levels when compared to other years on record,” said

 Lowes, President of the BC Northern Real Estate Board. “One of the many factors to watch going into 2023 is how ready potential buyers will be once the spring comes around again. We’re in the season of low supply right now so we don’t expect much change in market conditions through the winter, but we’ll be waiting with anticipation to see how the spring market shapes up.”

The average price of homes sold in December 2022 was $386,969, edging up 0.4 per cent from December 2021.

The more comprehensive annual average price was $414,668, a gain of 7.8 per cent from all of 2021.

The Board cautions that the average residential price is a useful figure only for establishing trends and comparisons over a period of time. It does not indicate an actual price for a home due to the wide selection of housing available over a vast geographic area (the Board serves an area covering over 600,000 square kilometers or 72 per cent of the province).

The dollar value of all home sales in December 2022 was $65.4 million, down sharply by 32.9 per cent from the same month in 2021.

The number of new listings saw a substantial decrease of 24.9 per cent from December 2021. There were 154 new residential listings in December 2022. This was the lowest number of new listings added in the month of December in more than 35 years.

New listings were 19.5 per cent below the five-year average and 25.6 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of December.

Active residential listings numbered 1,221 units on the market at the end of December, a sizable gain of 27.2 per cent from the end of December 2021.

Active listings were 5.6 per cent below the five-year average and 23.7 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of December.

Months of inventory numbered 7.2 at the end of December 2022, up from the 3.8 months recorded at the end of December 2021 and below the long-run average of 8 months for this time of year. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

The BC Northern Real Estate Board covers the northern part of British Columbia, including Bulkley Nechako, Cariboo, Fraser Fort George, Peace River/Fort Nelson, and Skeena/Queen Charlottes.

@bcnreb.bc.ca

 

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