The B-C Real Estate Association says "the anchor that is (Canada's) monetary policy" will continue to weigh down home sales in this province over the next year.
The association has released its fourth-quarter housing forecast showing residential sales are expected to dip nearly five per cent to just under 77-thousand units this year.
The forecast predicts sales will rebound in 2024 by about the same amount, but it says -- overall -- as long as the Bank of Canada keeps interest rates at or around five per cent, home sales will remain sluggish.
When looking at the fourth quarter, the association says more new listings arrived in the second half of this year which, combined with slowing sales, created a mild uptick in total inventory -- but it says homes listed for sale are still well below the needs of a healthy, balanced market.
