PRINCE GEORGE – The BC Northern Real Estate Board (BCNREB) released its report of the first half of 2024, and both home sales and listing rose compared to the first half of 2023. While both of these figures would seem to indicate a healthier real estate market for the buyer, quarter 2 of 2024 also saw an all-time high in average selling prices at $434,000.
If the numbers seem conflicting, that’s because at an initial glance, they are. However, Team Powerhouse Realty Broker Janine Phillips explained there are many ways to interpret the numbers, and when you consider the BCNREB’s report accounts for all markets in the region, some volatile markets can skew the data. For Prince George specifically, Phillips says our market remains consistent and could possibly be shifting to being more in favour of the buyer.
“The average that it takes for a home to sell right now in June in Prince George specifically is about 39 days. So that’s the time between when it gets listed and when a buyer removes their final subjects (…) That’s a pretty healthy market where things are. They’re moving, but they aren’t flying off the shelves either,” Phillips said.
Phillips noted new listing in Prince George outweighed sales, meaning supply is increasing as well. While Prince George historically doesn’t see big dips, Phillips says if this continues it’s likely buyers will enjoy a market more favoured towards them.
“When there is more inventory that becomes available, the sellers are a bit more willing to negotiate on some of the things that maybe they wouldn’t have to negotiate on if the market conditions were more in favour of those sellers,” she said.
Given that the Prince George market historically has been one to either remain steady or slowly rise, Phillips expects the increased supply of homes to help contribute to what she calls a stable, safe market.
“If you look at a 20 year average, we’re just like nice, slow and steady. We’re going up, we’re going up, but we’re not doing any crazy jumps or dips like some of the more volatile markets in the province. So we can really count on that here, which is a great thing for both buyers and sellers to really know that there’s some safety and security that people will buy and people will sell in Prince George,” she said.
The BCNREB added “the market is still not hot,” but with the Bank of Canada cutting its policy rate for the first time since 2020, buyers “may enter the market in greater numbers.”
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