While February 2022 residential real estate sales numbers are slightly down from the previous year, property values continue to be on the increase in the Powell River-Sunshine Coast real estate district.
Neil Frost, president of the local real estate board, said looking at prices, they are way up.
“We were at $450,000 for your decent family home, then $550,000, now it’s $650,000,” said Frost. “Values have surged.”
In terms of regional desirability, Frost indicated that statistics being collected by the real estate board indicate that more than 20 per cent of buyers have purchased in this region because of quality of life. There are local people bidding on houses that come up for sale and there are local buyers, but some are being outbid by out-of-area purchasers, according to Frost.
“Prices are telling the story that it’s a really strong market,” added Frost. “It’s still essentially a seller’s market.
“Sales activity is still quite strong as we move through the first quarter of 2022, with home sales in February continuing the momentum that picked up in December last year. New listings are also posting healthy levels, which means overall inventories have stabilized at a moderate level above the record lows from the spring of 2021. However, from an historical perspective, the market is still very tight and with the balance tilted in favour of sellers, we are continuing to see very strong price gains and record price levels.”
Buyer stats
In terms of local buyer statistics, 37.9 per cent of purchasers were local and 62.1 per cent were out-of-area buyers. Of the buyers tracked, 23.9 per cent were from the lower Sunshine Coast, 6.5 per cent were from Vancouver Island, 34.8 per cent were from Lower Mainland and outlying areas, 17.4 per cent were from Squamish, 13 per cent were from rest of BC, 2.2 per cent were from Alberta and 2.2 per cent were from rest of Canada.
On the residential side, in the single-family home category, in February 2022, there were 22 properties sold, valued at $15,594,000, compared to 24 properties sold, valued at $12,253,800, in February 2021.
In the single-family mobiles and manufactured homes category, in February 2022, there were three units sold, valued at $785,000, compared to three units sold in February 2021, valued at $771,500.
For single-family condos, duplexes and apartments, in February 2022, six units were sold, valued at $2,708,600, compared to 10 units sold in February 2021, valued at $3,362,000.
Totals on the residential side show 31 properties, valued at $19,087,600, sold in February 2022, compared to 37 units, valued at $16,387,300, sold in February 2021.
In non-residential, there was one farm valued at $1,600,000 sold in February 2022. There were no farms sold in February 2021.
In terms of vacant land, in February 2022, there were five units sold, valued at $1,329,800, compared to 12 units in February 2021, valued at $2,290,200.
There was one industrial, commercial and institutional property sold in February 2022, valued at $1,101,000, compared to three units, valued at $108,960, in February 2021.
Totals on the non-residential side show seven properties sold, valued at $3,939,800, in February 2022, compared to 15 units, valued at $2,399,160, in February 2021.
Total sales
Grand totals for residential and non-residential combined indicate 38 sold units, valued at $23,027,400, in February 2022, compared to 52 units, valued at $18,786,460, in February 2021.
There were 47 new residential listings and eight new non-residential listings in February 2022, for a total of 55. There were 94 active residential listings and 45 non-residential listings in February 2022, for a total of 139.
The average residential single-family home in February 2022 was valued at $708,818, with an average of 34 days on the market, compared to February 2021, when the average home was $510,575, with an average of 57 days on the market.
Provincial real estate statistics mirror local ones. BC Real Estate Association (BCREA) indicates that sales numbers are down but the dollar value was up in February 2022.
“While sales are not keeping pace with the unprecedented level of activity we saw this time last year, demand continues to be quite strong,” said BCREA chief economist Brendon Ogmundson. “There are some encouraging signs that listings are recovering from historical lows, but there is a very long way to go before markets achieve balance.”
