The BC Northern Real Estate Board released their first quarter results on April 5, statistics that show property sales in early 2011 have slowed down compared to the first three months of 2010.
According to the numbers, there were 25 properties sold in Prince Rupert worth $4.3 million compared to 35 properties worth $6.3 million in the first quarter of 2010. Unlike other communities in the northwest, all 25 properties sold were single-family residential properties, with no vacant land or manufactured homes being sold.
The average selling price of homes in Prince Rupert also took a sharp drop following a big 2010. The average selling price for a home in the first quarter of 2011 was $171,909 compared to $207,893 in the first quarter of 2010. The 2011 number is very close to the 2009 average selling price of $170,000.
The number of homes that remain on the market is also up from last year. At the end of the first quarter in 2010 there were 231 properties still on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) while there were 240 properties listed at the end of March 2011.
Numbers were also down slightly in Terrace and Smithers, with home sales falling from 45 to 43 and 45 to 42 respectively, while Kitimat bucked the trend and saw the number of properties sold jump from 14 properties worth $2.1 million to 37 properties worth $5 million.
“In spite of a long hard winter that has seemingly impacted the various real estate markets in our northern two-thirds of the province the numbers of sales and listings throughout the area are only, on average, marginally down over 2010,” said board president and local realtor Victor Prystay.
“We are, with spring finally here and bringing with it the number of new listings that historically come into the market at this time of year, continuing to be optimistic about 2011.”