Vancouver – The British Columbia Real Estate Association released their fourth-quarter housing forecast.
Gazing into their crystal ball, they see an interesting trend. The BCREA predicts that residential sales will decline by 10 per cent in 2018, after an expected drop of 8.8 per cent in 2017.
That has raised some eyebrows.
“Housing demands across the province will face headwinds in 2018″. That coming from Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist.
“A rising interest rate environment combined with more stringent mortgage stress tests will reduce household purchasing power and erode housing affordability.”
The combination of weakening consumer demand and a surge in new home completions next year is expected to induce more balanced market conditions, producing less upward pressure on home prices.
