Home sales through the Northwest have been on the move recently and recorded a drop from the end of March to the end of June. While numbers may look grim for the interim, the BC Northern Real Estate Board says that now isn't the time to ring the alarm bells.

Although sales in the north have been falling in recent months, total sales in the first half of 2022 are still about 23 per cent above the pre-pandemic long-run average." Noted the BCNREB, "While supply is rising, the sales-to-active-listings ratio is only beginning to approach a more balanced level in the latest monthly data."

In Terrace, 172 homes were sold in quarter two of this year compared to 190 over the same period last year. The same can be said for Kitimat, where $36.4 million changed hands, a drop from $44 million in the second quarter of 2021.

The board says they expect to see the downward trend continue into the middle portion of the year.

"We expect that in the second half of the year tightening by the Bank of Canada and heightened mortgage rates will continue to temper demand, softening prices and sales."

"During the pandemic, some people who were already pursuing properties were pushed to purchase because it made sense." Said Suki Spencer with RE/MAX Coast Mountains, "But now, with the increase in small increments over the summer, it is deterring some people."