A weak market in the Lower Mainland is weighing on homes sales in British Columbia, with both transactions and average prices falling in July.
The British Columbia Real Estate Association says 6,561 residential property sales were recorded in the Multiple Listing Service in the province last month, down 6.7 per cent from a year ago.
The average sales price also dropped 1.3 per cent to just short of $930,000 from about $942,000 a year earlier.
Association chief economist Brendon Ogmundson says most of the province saw seasonally adjusted sales activity rise from June levels, with the Lower Mainland, including Metro Vancouver, a noted exception.
Ogmundson says the sector is hopeful that the overall B.C. market can recover by "converging to long-term averages" in the next year with a recovery in the labour market as well as "resilience in the economy."
Greater Vancouver home sales were down more than nine per cent year-over-year in July to just over 2,000 units, while Chilliwack sales fell 14 per cent and other Fraser Valley markets slipped by seven per cent.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
