"The strong recovery in sales activity continued in July," said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson in the recently released press release, https://www.bcrea.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020-07.pdf "Increased demand for more living space combined with an undersupplied market is producing significant upward pressure on home prices, particularly in the market for single-family homes."

That remark concerns the entire province, but if you break down the geographic areas you will see that the lower Sunshine Coast is still where the deals are to be had.  (In the graphic shown at the right, we are lumped in with Greater Vancouver).  Powell River has experienced a 30% increase in prices, while we on the Lower Coast have only risen less than 5%.  Check out the complete report on lower Sunshine Coast stats under "Market Statistics" here on my blog, http://sunshinecoastland.com/sunshine-coast-market-statistics.html

Western Investor rates Sechelt as one of the top 5 places to retire in B.C.

https://www.westerninvestor.com/news/british-columbia/where-is-the-grey-wave-pooling-our-top-five-b-c-retirement-towns-1.24062294

December 2019 was an incredible month:  detached home sales were up 128.6% over December last year, perhaps reflecting the 6.4% drop in the benchmark price.  Of the 32 sales in this category, 20 were in the sweet spot of between $400,000 and $900,000, and Gibsons was, as usual, the primary hot spot.  For the complete report check out the Market Statistics tab under this blog.  

VANCOUVER, BC – September 4, 2019 –

Home buyer activity increased to more typical levels in Metro Vancouver* throughout the summer months. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential home sales in the region totalled 2,231 in August 2019, a 15.7 per cent increase from the 1,929 sales recorded in August 2018, and a 12.7 per cent decrease from the 2,557 homes sold in July 2019.

Last month’s sales were 9.2 per cent below the 10-year August sales average. “Home sales returned to more historically normal levels in July and August compared to what we saw in the first six months of the year,” said REBGV President Ashley Smith.

There were 3,747 detached, attached and apartment properties newly listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Metro Vancouver in August 2019. This represents a 3.5 per cent decrease compared to the 3,881 homes listed in August 2018 and an 18.8 per cent decrease compared to July 2019 when 4,613 homes were listed.

The total number of homes currently listed for sale on the MLS® system in Metro Vancouver is 13,396, a 13.3 per cent increase compared to August 2018 (11,824) and a 5.9 per cent decrease compared to July 2019 (14,240). For all property types, the sales-to-active listings ratio for August 2019 is 16.7 per cent. By property type, the ratio is 12 per cent for detached homes, 18.4 per cent for townhomes, and 21.2 per cent for apartments. Generally, analysts say downward pressure on home prices occurs when the ratio dips below 12 per cent for a sustained period, while home prices often experience upward pressure when it surpasses 20 per cent over several months.

“With more demand from home buyers, the supply of homes listed for sale isn’t accumulating like earlier in the year. These changes are creating more balanced market conditions,” Smith said.

The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $993,300. This represents an 8.3 per cent decrease over August 2018 and a 0.2 per cent decrease compared to July 2019.

Sales of detached homes in August 2019 reached 706, a 24.5 per cent increase from the 567 detached sales recorded in August 2018. The benchmark price for detached homes is $1,406,700. This represents a 9.8 per cent decrease from August 2018 and a 0.7 per cent decrease compared to July 2019.

Sales of apartment homes reached 1,116 in August 2019, an 8.9 per cent increase compared to the 1,025 sales in August 2018. The benchmark price of an apartment property is $771,000. This represents a 7.4 per cent decrease from August 2018 and a 0.1 per cent increase compared to July 2019.

Attached home sales in August 2019 totalled 409, a 21.4 per cent increase compared to the 337 sales in August 2018. The benchmark price of an attached unit is $654,000. This represents a 7.8 per cent decrease from August 2018, a 0.2 per cent increase compared to July 2019.

BCREA has issued their latest mortgage rate forecast, the crux of which is  "We anticipate that current low mortgage rates will be around for most of the summer before rising modestly into next year."  Low prices, low rates -- a great time to buy a house!

Read the full report here: http://www.bcrea.bc.ca/…/economics…/mortgagerateforecast.pdf