Prince George, B.C. The BC Real Estate Association  is predicting  the real estate market throughout the  north will  see a 2.6% increase in sales by the end of this year.

The  BCREA also forecasts the average price will  change only slightly  from the $264,696 dollar average of 2015,  to  $265 thousand.    The forecast for 2017 is a little brighter with  a predicted average price of  $272,500,  an increase of 2.8%.

The market throughout the north will remain a “buyers-balanced” market for a while says the Association in it’s 3rd quarter report  “The  Northern regions are still grappling with weak commodity demand overall and low oil and gas prices in particular. In aggregate, the North is likely to remain in buyers-to-balanced market conditions well into 2017. ”

The  Northern region,  is expected to see a 4% increase in resales in 2017 and a further 2.8% increase in the average price.

The  Association also predicts that province wide,  housing demand  in BC will moderate with home sales declining nearly 8 per cent to 104,400 units by the end of  next year. However, housing demand in the province  is expected to remain well above the ten-year average of 85,000 unit sales.

The new 15% tax on foreign national purchases of homes in  Metro Vancouver is expected to  accelerate a moderating trend in the market  says the BCREA,  but  with other regions of the province performing above expectations  the softening of the Vancouver market   should be offset.

The BCREA says  increased numbers of construction of new homes and  more  resale homes on the market  are expected to  “create more balance and less upward pressure on home prices.”