After four months of trending down from last spring’s market peak, the average price of a B.C. home has started to rise.

This comes amid what the provincial real-estate association describes as a “drought” in residential listings for sale.

In August  2021, the average price of a B.C. home rose to $901,712, marking a slight 1.1 percent increase from the July figure of $891,687.

The average price peaked in March 2021 at $947,707, which was followed by monthly decreases up to July.

Compared to the average price in August 2020 of $769,691, last month’s $901,712 represents a 17.2 percent increase.

In a report Tuesday (September 14), the B.C. Real Estate Association stated that total active residential listings went down 37.9 percent year-over-year in August 2021.

Active listings were also 42 percent below normal levels for the month of August.

Meanwhile, realtors across the province sold a total 9,507 homes last month.

The sales mark a 7.1 percent decrease over August 2020.

 “Home sales around the province have essentially returned to normal after a record setting spring,” BCREA chief economist Brendon Ogmundson said in the release.

“However,” Ogmundson added, “we continue to see a drought in the total supply of listings as well as downward trend in new listings activity.”

A BCREA housing forecast released in August this year anticipated that prices will remain elevated because of the low supply of homes for sale.

“Even if sales come back down to long-run average levels, total listings would need to nearly double to bring markets back into balance,” the forecast noted.

The BCREA projected that the average price in 2021 will climb to $911,300, for a 16.6 percent increase over $781,561 last year.