Dawson Creek’s residential real estate market saw one of its best years ever last year, and many expect sales to continue steady well into 2022 as the province’s post-pandemic recovery and B.C.'s nascent liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry gather steam. Dawson Creek is close to the main LNG wellhead in the Montney Basin.
“It was the best year we ever had…by 20 per cent," said Kevin Kurjata of Royal LePage Aspire Realty in Dawson Creek, B.C.
In fact, you would need to go back to 2012 to see numbers that would challenge 2021's figures.
Kurjata believes several factors led to higher home sales in 2021. Many of them were associated, ironically, with the pandemic.
“There were some financial things with COVID that put some people in the market that weren’t in before,” said Kurjata. “People were able to suspend their rent or mortgage for six months or had CERB payments coming in.”
Spending on travel and other experiences was curtailed as people spent more time at home, resulting in people building up their savings for other purchases.
Blaine Nicholson with Remax Dawson Creek agrees with Kurjata's assessment.
"2021 was a great market. Close to a record market in residential real estate sales," said Nicholson, who feels pent-up demand among buyers spurred the market higher. "People would see that their neighbour's house sold so they would put their house on the market. It would sell, and it would carry on from there."
With families growing in the city, many of Nicholson's clients are looking at getting into bigger homes.
"Three bedrooms with a basement, hopefully with a garage, much more affordable than a home down on the Lower Mainland or even the Okanagan," he said.
The average selling price for a single-family home in Mile Zero last year was just over $350,500. Current Dawson Creek listings in Rew.ca include detached houses priced much lower. By contrast, the benchmark price for a single-family house in the Lower Mainland in December was $1.8 million.
Nevertheless, residential prices posted strong gains. According to the B.C. Real Estate Association, residential prices increased 30 per cent in the South Peace last year, double the 15 per cent gain recorded in Greater Vancouver.
Kurjata said the South Peace could see a shift in 2022 based on global events such as the conflict in Ukraine.
He points out that the region is more influenced by what happens in Alberta than events in B.C. A good economy in Alberta, where the energy sector is a major factor, translates to a better market in the Peace Country.
Some realtors are already starting to notice the effects.
Nicholson said he's seeing a surge in residents moving from Metro Vancouver to Dawson Creek looking to find work in the oil and gas patch. He notes this is very unusual and has never happened before.
"People are able to sell something in the Lower Mainland, come out with a pile of cash in their hand, purchase a home here, better than what they had, it's mortgage free, and they still have cash in the bank," he said.
Kurjata predicts sales should remain steady through this year as a trend that started in late 2021 remains in play.
“We should see significant price appreciation," added Kurjata. “I mean, if we do 80 per cent of what we had last year, we’ll have an excellent year. “
Based on early figures, Kurjata said residential prices could reach as high as $390,000 by the end of the year – a new record for the region.
Looking further ahead, Nicholson believes getting the Coastal GasLink pipeline into operation will also have a huge impact on the area's market.
"It's so big that it's going to take an amazing amount of natural gas to get in that pipeline," said Nicholson. "That natural gas is coming from underneath our feet. So, if we're busy right now, and we don't have the LNG flowing to the coast, it only makes sense that we'll get even busier (when it does)."
