The B.C. Real Estate Association predicts that the average price of a home by the end of this year will rise 9.9 percent over 2019.
The BCREA made the projection in its fourth quarter housing forecast.
The estimate represents an even rosier outlook compared to the association’s previous housing prediction.
In its third quarter housing forecast released on August 25, the BCREA stated that the average price in 2020 will top those in 2019 by 7.7 percent.
The fourth quarter housing forecast, which projected a 9.9 percent increase, came out Wednesday (November 4).
In 2019, the average price of a B.C. home stood at $700,396.
With BCREA’s projected 9.9 percent increase, the price will come to $770,000.
The numbers are higher in Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
In Metro Vancouver, the average price of a home is expected to reach $1,060,000 by the end of 2020, a 7.4 percent increase over last year.
Over in the Fraser Valley, the average price will reach $790,000, a 9.5 percent improvement over 2019.
Brendon Ogmundson is the chief economist with BCREA.
“The housing market had a record fall season and prices are rapidly rising as pent-up demand floods into an under-supplied market,” Ogmundson said in a media release.
In its fourth quarter forecast, the BCREA also predicted that sales in 2020 will top the record last year.
The association stated that sales in the province are expected to rise 16.9 percent to 90,450 units.
In 2019, 77,350 homes sold in B.C.
The bright outlook by BCREA stands in contrast with an earlier view by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
On June 4, 2020, CMHC predicted a nine to 18 percent decline in average home prices in the country over the next year.
The federal housing agency reiterated its dim outlook on June 23.
From January to September 2020, a total of 65,023 homes sold in B.C.
The sales represent a 12.5 percent increase over the 57,798 homes sold in the first nine months of 2019.