Residential property sales recorded through the MLS® System of the BC Northern Real Estate Board remained below year-ago levels in October 2010, but have been showing signs of stabilizing in recent months.

According to the Board’s statistics, home sales numbered 264 units in October 2010, a decline of 27 per cent from October 2009. Seasonally adjusted activity dropped sharply from May to June this year, but has since posted only small month-to-month changes. On a year-to-date basis, activity remains slightly above levels reported over the first 10 months of last year.

The average price of home sales in October was $193,611**, a decrease of 11 per cent from the same month in 2009; however, the less volatile year-to-date average price figure was even with levels in the first 10 months last year.

**The Board cautions that the average residential price is a useful figure only for establishing trends and comparisons over a period of time. It does not indicate an actual price for a home due to the wide selection of housing available over a vast geographic area (the Board serves an area covering over 600,000 square kilometers or 72 per cent of the province).

The dollar value of all home sales in October 2010 was $51.1 million, down 35 per cent from year-ago levels.

Total sales numbered 306 units in October, down 28 per cent year-over-year. The total value of all properties sold was $57.5 million, a decrease of 33 per cent from October 2009.

There were 482 new residential listings on the Board’s MLS® System in October 2010, edging up two units from the same month last year. Active residential listings on the Board’s MLS® System numbered 2,671 units at the end of October 2010. This is up 11 per cent from year-ago levels, but stands below 2008 levels.

There were 10.1 months of inventory at the end of October, well above 6.6 months in the same month last year. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

The BC Northern Real Estate Board is an association of about 410 REALTORS® that provides services to and sets standards for members. The BC Northern Real Estate Board covers the northern part of British Columbia, including Bulkley Nechako, Cariboo, Fraser Fort George, Peace River/Fort Nelson, and Skeena/Queen Charlottes.