Prince George Real Estate Weathers Commodity Slump
Prince George, B.C.- The number of single family dwellings sold in Prince George last year, was up from the number sold in 2014 as was the average value.
That’s according to the BCNorthern Real Estate Board which has released its final report on last year’s real estate activity. In Prince George, 976 single family homes sold in 2015, and the average price was $284,611. In 2014, there were 950 units sold with an average selling price of $271,580.
The overall number of properties sold in P.G. saw little change in the number sold, but the total value was higher. 1442 properties worth $377 million sold in 2015, compared with 1449 properties worth $355.5 million in 2014.
But not all communities under the BCNREB saw positive results.
The combined results in the Board’s area (from 100 Mile House north) saw 4840 property sales worth $1.2 billion last year. That’s down from the 5,218 properties worth $1.3 billion that sold in 2014.
“Some areas in the BC Northern area are being affected by the global commodity slowdown and have seen a drop in sales volume and also price pressure,” says Ken Laursen, Past President of BC Northern. “The effect of commodity markets on the housing market in some areas brings to the forefront the fact that the economy of the north remains largely commodity driven.”
Prince George continues to be mostly unaffected by the economic conditions in either the northern, western or southern areas of the BCNREB.
Here is how other communities finished 2015 when it comes to the sale of single family dwellings:
Comments
Hopefully the prices hold this year since I am next on the layoff list and will put my properties up for sale when the hammer falls. (Time to get out of dodge anyway just in case those rumors about the pulpmills had some credibility.)
I am surprised at both the resiliency of the Quesnel market, in light of the challenges Quesnel faced this past year; but also at the apparent weakness of the Vanderhoof market.
In Vanderhoof I think its more of a case of a low turn over type of community where everyone is long established, and the housing market is not a reflection of the underlying economic base.
Fort St John prices are ridiculous for such a dirty town with no character. One has to wonder at what price point do developers step in when its closing in on a half million for a home in Fort St John?
Terrace is another over priced over hyped in my opinion. I get the salmon fishing on the Skeena, and the Nisga back country tourism aspect of Terrace; but I just don’t see how they capitalize a whole lot on LNG long term, or even highway 37 resource developments. Smithers is just as well situated as Terrace to become a larger service center for the region, with much more room to grow.
Prince Rupert is probably the best long term bet, although getting expensive. Most of the industry currently in Prince Rupert is long term sustainable with modest potential for growth… add in its possible center for LNG exports and its probably a good buy to hold its value as good as anywhere else in Northern BC.
As for big centers like Dawson Creek, or even Tumbler Ridge, Chetwynd… surely if Fort St James and Burns Lake make the list then why not publish their numbers on the same report?
Also I think it would be telling to have another column on this report that shows the total amount of residential properties in each communities, so as to compare turn over rates as a percentage of total properties… and what not.
Hartly 2, which rumours? From what I’ve read, 2015 profits were relatively good, buoyed buy a low Canadian dollar. Canfor pulp seems to be positioned well…
Quesnel still has a couple of lumber mills, 2 pulp mills and an os&d plant. So all in all they have a lot of industry for a small town.
It will be interesting to see if the prices stay stable here once PGs own Oilpatch workers start selling their homes.
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