Real estate sales here dipped for the first six months of this year compared to the same time period in 2021, indicate the latest Multiple Listing Service statistics available from the B.C. Northern Real Estate Board.
Thirty-five properties worth $8.5 million changed hands from January to June, down from the 52 properties selling for $11 million in the first six months of 2021.
But while sales dropped, the average price of a residential detached house increased — from $252,469 for the 28 homes that sold from January to June 2021 to $258,169 for the 18 residential detached homes that sold for the first six months of this year.
This year’s average selling price for January to June is considerably higher than the $197,482 for the nine residential detached homes that sold from January to June 2020.
The sales figures for the first six months of this year nearly equal all of 2020 when 35 properties sold for a total of $8.2 million.
And should the sales level continue for the last six months of this year, the annual total may surpass that of 2021 when 58 properties sold for a total worth of $15.1 million.
There was also a drop in Burns Lake area sales — from 56 properties worth $12.6 million for the first six months of 2021 to 43 properties worth $11.9 for the first six months of this year.
Sales prices for residential detached houses in Burns Lake climbed considerably from January to June 2021 when the average price was $162,095 to $300,050 for the same time period this year.
Total sales across the BC Northern Real Estate Board area which runs from the North Coast east to the Alberta border and from the Yukon border south to 100 Mile House also dropped for the first six months of this year compared to the same time period of 2021.
From January to June last year there were 3,561 property sales while the January to June total this year was 2,895.
The dollar value, however, stayed the same for both time periods at $1.2 billion.
“We expect that in the second half of the year tightening by the Bank of Canada and heightened mortgage rates will continue to temper demand, softening prices and sales,” a news release from the B.C. Northern Real Estate Board indicated.