Big price drop for houses and low mortgage rates. Hmm.. so what happened to the sales?

This year, the fall housing market appears to be the most active in the last four years

Picture by Emma Crawford

. According to the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) In October, Greater Vancouver had a total of 2,698 residential home sales in October which was a staggering 37% increase compared to the 1970 sales in October 2012!

Also, the dollar volume of sales in the Vancouver area also jumped, growing by 44.2% from $1.5 billion in October 2012 to $2.1 billion.

Indeed, October was a good month for the residential market! The province as a whole had a total of 6,673 residential home sales in October – the strongest October in four years, according to the BCREA. October’s sales were up 26.5% compared with one year prior (5,276 units). Province-wide dollar volumes jumped 34.5% from $2.7 billion in October 2012 to $3.6 billion this October.

But why this mammoth increase in sales? Well, besides the low prices, the persistently low mortgage interest rates and an element of pent-up demand has driven home sales higher in the province’s large Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island markets.

Also, although the rebound in demand across B.C. has been significant, sales are still trending near the long-term average. Naturally, strong economic and employment growth will be needed to maintain accelerated progress.

So, if you’re looking to buy a home, you better do it fast. The low mortgage is also a pretty good added incentive right?

Article and Picture:

Crawford, Emma. “Business In Vancouver Logo.” Business In Vancouver. N.p., 15 Nov. 2013. Web. 16 Nov. 2013. <http://www.biv.com/article/20131115/BIV0111/131119961/home-sales-in-greater-vancouver-up-37-in-october>.

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