Continuing the trend of rising home sale prices in the Lower Mainland, prices are expected to keep growing in 2015, according to the 2015 RE/MAX Housing Market Outlook report released December 10.
The average residential sale price in the Greater Vancouver Area is projected to reach $863,600. This is an increase of 3.0% compared with $838,400 in 2014, which is up 7.3% compared with 2013.
The increase is slightly higher than the national average growth forecast of 2.5%. RE/MAX anticipates that the average home sale price across Canada will reach $416,300. Year-to-date nationwide, the average home sale price has been $406,145.
Gurinder Sandhu, regional director for RE/MAX Integra for Ontario-Atlantic, said this strong forecast reflects economic resilience in Canada. “Housing demand is being supported by steady employment and immigration, while our GDP is expected to grow another 2.5% in 2015,” Sandhu said. “This is mitigating the effects of higher inventory, which many markets have been experiencing due to increased development.”
Low interest rates have maintained steady demand. RE/MAX expects that if borrowing rates are to increase, sales will jump initially as buyers try to acquire their homes before the cost of borrowing becomes higher.
Kelowna is expected to see the strongest growth in the country next year. Prices are projected to increase 7.0% to $458,000 on average, up from $428,000 this year.
Increases in some other major cities across Canada are expected to be modest, including Ottawa (1.6%), Quebec City (1.5%) and Montreal (1.0%). This is due to increased market supply, RE/MAX said.
Graph source: RE/MAX
