KREB optimistic better days ahead for both buyers and sellers
By Contributor
The Kootenay Real Estate Board (KREB) reports housing prices rose by appoximately $12,000 from the average price at the same time last year, which is bucking the provincial average.
Provincially, the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that the average MLS® residential price was 8.1 per cent lower at the end of March this year than in March 2011.
Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist, reported that a marked increase in high-end home sales in 2011 pushed up unit sales and skewed average prices higher so it was no surprise to see a lower average home price in March of 2012.
The geographic area of the Kootenay Real Estate Board encompasses the southeast corner of BC from Rock Creek in the West, East to the Alberta border, north to Golden and is bordered on the south by the US border.
According to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) home prices at the end of the first quarter of 2012 are above prices reported at the end of the first quarter of 2011.
The number of sales Kootenays has also increased at the end of the first quarter of 2012 from 2011.
There are significant variations community by community in the Kootenay Real Estate Board area.
With low interest rates continuing to hold, KREB is anticipating stable market conditions for both Buyers and Sellers, for the next quarter and throughout the year.
