The BC Northern Real Estate Board is reporting a decline in sales during 2023.
There were 4,233 property sales worth $1.7 billion in 2023 through the Multiple Listing Services (MLS) in the region, down for the previous year's 5,071 sales worth $2 billion.
Sales in the BC Northern region declined in all three months of the final quarter of 2023. At 867 seasonally adjusted sales, the fourth quarter total was the third-lowest level since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Seasonally adjusted active listings continued to rise and, with 1,913 units in the fourth quarter, are now just 7 per cent below the number of listings active on the MLS® system in the Northern board area when the pandemic began.
The current level of active listings, however, remains well short of the level needed for the market to be balanced if sales return to their historical norms. The average sale price declined to roughly $408,000 in the fourth quarter, roughly 5 per cent from its peak in the second quarter of 2020. The seasonally adjusted average days on market rose to 72.
Markets around the region varied. Sales rose from the prior quarter in Prince Rupert, Quesnel, 100 Mile House, and Williams Lake, while declining in Kitimat, Prince George, Fort St. John, Smithers, and Terrace. Overall, the housing market in the BC Northern Board area remains soft as high interest rates have constrained affordability for buyers.
However, fixed-rate mortgage rates have declined in recent months as financial markets price in expectations that the Bank of Canada will cut its overnight rate in 2024. The board says as these expectations become certainties, mortgage rates will fall further, which is likely to provide a tailwind for sales in the region and encourage a recovery in sales in the spring.
In Prince George specifically, 1,132 properties worth $512.5 million sold in 2023, compared with 1,376 properties worth $637.4 million in 2022. At year-end, there were 595 properties of all types available through MLS®, compared to 203 properties at the end of 2022.
In the area west of Highway 97, half of the 195 single-family homes sold in 2023, sold for less than $451,000. As well, 46 apartment units and 36 townhouses changed hands in 2023. As of Dec 31, there were 47 single-family homes available through MLS® in this area of the city, compared to 11 at the same time last year.
East of Highway 97, 32 apartment units, 11 half-duplexes, and 29 townhouses sold in 2023. The 143 single-family homes sold had a median value of $370,000. At the end of December there were 40 single-family homes available for sale through MLS® in this area compared with 10 at the end of 2022.
In the northern part of the city, 23 homes on acreages, 29 manufactured homes in parks and a further 44 manufactured homes on land sold in 2023. Of the 133 single-family homes sold, half sold for less than $510,000. As of December 31st, there were 23 single-family homes available through MLS® in this area of the City compared with 12 at the end of 2022.
In the southwest sector, 14 half-duplexes, 18 townhouses, 5 homes on acreage, 9 manufactured homes in parks and a further 10 manufactured homes on land sold in 2023. Half of the 198 singlefamily homes sold in 2023 sold for less than $593,500. At year-end, there were 40 single-family homes available for sale through MLS® in the southwest sector, compared with the 16 at the end of 2022.
