The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports a 27% decline in residential unit sales from the same month last year (as per MLS®) which is a total of 4,533 residential unit sales recorded. The average MLS® residential price in the province was $678,625, a 9.3% decline from February 2018. Total sales dollar volume was $3.08 Billion, a 33.8% decline from the same month last year.

“Prospective homebuyers continue to be sidelined by the mortgage stress test,” said Brendon Ogmundson, BCREA Deputy Chief Economist. “As a consequence, and despite a strong BC labour market, sales remained slow in February.”

Total MLS® residential active listings increased 36.5% to 30,891 units compared to the same month last year. The ratio of sales to active residential listings declined from 27.4% to 14.7% over the same period.

“Falling mortgage rates should provide some relief for homebuyers, providing a small boost to affordability heading into the spring,” added Ogmundson.

As per the Real Estate Board of Vancouver, the February statistics for Metro Vancouver can be seen below.

The Metro Vancouver* housing market saw increased supply and below average demand in February. The REBGV reports that home sales in the region saw a 32.8% from the same month last year (1,484 units in February 2019). Last month's sales were 42.5% below the 10-year February sales average.

"For much of the past four years, we’ve been in a sellers’ market. Conditions have shifted over the last 12 months to favour buyers, particularly in the detached home market. This means that home buyers face less competition today, have more selection to choose from and more time to make their decisions." -- Phil Moore, REBGV president

* Areas covered by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver include: Whistler, Sunshine Coast, Squamish, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Richmond, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, and South Delta.