About BCREA’s Housing Monitor Dashboard

The BCREA Economics team has created the Housing Monitor Dashboard to help REALTORS^® monitor BC’s housing market. This dashboard, which is updated monthly, provides up-to-date data on key variables for public education and use. Focuses include: 

• Resale Home Market

• Construction

• Rental Market

• Borrowing Costs

• Other BCREA Data

In the dashboard, the image and data are available for download under each chart, where possible.

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

Canadian retail sales increased by 0.8 per cent to $69.8 billion in March compared to the previous month. Compared to the same time last year, retail sales were up by 5.6 per cent. Furthermore, core retail sales, which exclude gasoline and automobile items, rose by 0.2 per cent month-over-month. In volume terms, adjusted for rising prices, retail sales increased by 0.9 per cent in March. Retail activity was up 1.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, while rising by 0.2 per cent in volume terms.

Retail sales in British Columbia were up 0.3 per cent in March from the previous month and rose by 4.7 per cent compared to the same time last year. In the CMA of Vancouver, retail sales were up 0.7 per cent from the prior month and were 6.4 per cent above the level of March 2024.

March's report marks the fourth consecutive quarterly increase in retail activity across the country. However, this report is unlikely to sway the Bank of Canada regarding its policy rate decision during its next meeting.  As global uncertainties continue casting shadows on the economy, economists will closely monitor next week's GDP report as an indicator of which direction the Bank of Canada will take in June. 

https://mailchi.mp/bcrea/canadian-retail-sales-march-2025

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

Canadian prices, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose 1.7 per cent on a year-over-year basis in April, down from a 2.3 per cent increase in March. Month-over-month, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the CPI was down 0.2 per cent in April. The overall slowdown in headline CPI is largely driven by lower energy prices, catalyzed by the removal of the consumer carbon tax. The CPI ex-energy rose by 2.9 per cent in April. While shelter costs remain the main driver of inflation, grocery price growth has also outpaced the headline CPI over the past three months, with prices rising 3.8 per cent year-over-year in April. In BC, consumer prices rose 2.0 per cent year-over-year, down from 2.6 per cent in March. The Bank of Canada's preferred measures of median and trimmed inflation, which strip out volatile components, are at 3.2 per cent and 3.1 per cent year-over-year, respectively.

While April's CPI report saw inflation fall comfortably into the target range, several underlying trends illustrate upward pressure on prices across many sub-components beyond energy/gasoline. Moreover, the Bank's core measures of inflation rose above their target range, suggesting that  almost all deceleration in the headline CPI was driven by volatile components. Taken together, the Bank faces the decision of either overlooking these pressures in favour of a rate cut or holding its policy rate to defend against further price growth. All eyes shift towards next week's GDP report, which will better show how tariffs are beginning to affect the Canadian economy.

https://mailchi.mp/bcrea/canadian-inflation-april-2025

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

Canadian housing starts rose by 30 per cent to 278,606 units in April at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR). Starts were up 15 per cent from the same month last year. Single-detached housing starts increased by 15 per cent from last month at 57,026 units, while multi-family and other starts rose by 35 per cent to 221,582 units (SAAR).

In British Columbia, starts rose by 71 per cent from last month to 53,195 units (SAAR) in all areas of the province. In areas of the province with 10,000 or more residents, single-detached starts decreased by 5 per cent to 3,582 units, while multi-family starts rose by 87 per cent to 47,499 units month-over-month. Starts in the province were 3 per cent below the levels from April 2024. Year-to-date starts are up by 141 per cent in Abbotsford, but down 78 per cent in Nanaimo, 30 per cent in Kelowna, 29 per cent in Victoria, and 25 per cent in Vancouver.

https://mailchi.mp/bcrea/canadian-housing-starts-april-2025

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

To view the full interactive BCREA Market Intelligence report, click here.
To view the latest Market Intelligence report PDF, click here.

Summary of Findings

• Uncertainty related to the threat of tariffs has depressed home sales through the first quarter of 2025.

• As that uncertainty subsides, the path of sales activity will depend on the prevailing tariff regime and the ultimate impact of tariffs on the economy.

• A strong monetary policy response from the Bank of Canada could counteract the negative impact of tariffs, leading to a stronger, faster housing market recovery.
  

The economic uncertainty engendered by the stochastic trade policy of the United States under President Donald Trump has upended what was set to be a return to normalcy in the British Columbia housing market. However, that uncertainty, while still elevated, appears to be subsiding. So, what comes next?

In this Market Intelligence report, we’ll explore some potential scenarios for the BC housing market amidst a cloudier-than-usual outlook.

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani..

For the complete news release, including detailed statistics, click here.

Vancouver, BC – May 2025. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that 6,453 residential unit sales were recorded in Multiple Listing Service^® (MLS^®) Systems in April 2025, down 14.6 per cent from April 2024. The average MLS^® residential price in BC in April 2025 was down 6.1 per cent at $942,884 compared to $1,003,638 in April 2024.

The total sales dollar volume was $6.1 billion, a 19.7 per cent decrease from the same time the previous year. BC MLS^® unit sales were 27 per cent lower than the ten-year April average.

“Regional activity continued to diverge in April with more expensive regions experiencing a larger drop in sales activity,” said BCREA Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “Uncertainty regarding trade and monetary policy has caused trepidation for prospective buyers, largely in the Lower Mainland, prompting overall provincial activity to fall far below historical averages.”

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume is down 11.7 per cent to $20.7 billion, compared with the same period in 2024. Residential unit sales are down 7.9 per cent year-over-year at 21,676 units, while the average MLS^® residential price is also down 4.1 per cent to $953,674.

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

The slowdown in home sales registered on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Metro Vancouver that began early this year continued in April, with sales down nearly 24 per cent year-over-year.

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

Canadian employment was virtually unchanged from the previous month, gaining 7,400 jobs to 20.969 million in April. The employment rate fell by 0.1 points to 60.8 per cent, while the unemployment rate rose by 0.2 points to 6.9 per cent. Average hourly wages rose 3.4 per cent year-over-year to $36.13 last month, while total hours worked were up 0.9 per cent compared to April of the previous year.

Employment in B.C. rose by 0.2 per cent to 2.951 million, gaining 6,000 jobs in April. Employment in Metro Vancouver fell by 0.7 per cent to 1.7 million in April. The unemployment rate in B.C. increased by 0.1 points to 6.2 per cent in April. Meanwhile, Vancouver's unemployment rate fell by 0.1 points to 6.3 per cent in the fourth month of the year.

April's jobs report signals a further cooling of the Canadian labour market through the spring as tariff uncertainties continue to weigh on the Canadian economic outlook on multiple levels. As the anticipated consequences of tariffs ripple through the economy, the Bank of Canada may consider a rate cut during their next meeting to partially alleviate the economic damages caused by a highly volatile global trading environment.

https://mailchi.mp/bcrea/canadian-employment-april-2025

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.