British Columbia’s booming real estate market cooled modestly in 2017 due, at least in part, to government efforts to stymie rapid price appreciation.
The western Canadian province tallied 103,763 residential sales last year, a 7.5% decline from 2016, according to an end-of-year British Columbia Real Estate Association report Friday. The prior year set a record with over 112,000 transactions.
More:Vancouver Home Prices Appreciated 15.9% in 2017
Total sales volume also fell 5.1% from a record year in 2016. Roughly C$73.63 billion (US$58.8 billion) in transactions were recorded for 2017.
"Robust housing demand in 2017 was underpinned by a strong economy, employment growth and rising wages," said Cameron Muir, BCREA's chief economist.
Since 2016, lawmakers have rolled out a series of curbing measures to avoid a potential housing bubble, including a 15% foreign-buyers’ property transfer tax and an Empty Home Tax mainly targeted at foreign, speculative investment buyers.
The government will likely make more changes in the coming months, Mansion Global reported previously.
Indeed, the province saw a flurry of activity in December as buyers sought to finish deals to avoid tougher mortgage qualification rules introduced in the new year, according to the report.
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Those efforts have slowed the rate of price growth, though many areas still saw double-digit appreciation.
Greater Vancouver’s average sales price rose to C$1.05 million (US$838,635), up 10% over 2016.
Fraser Valley, anotherhigh-end area, saw prices soar nearly 18% over the year. The average price there is now over C$737,000 (US$588,641).
The report did not break out the luxury market.