Robust home sales in the Tri-Cities this spring suggests a lot of people will be moving into new digs in the coming weeks as 2015 proves to be a banner year for real estate.
That should translate into a busy next few months for movers, home renovation companies, paint, furniture and hardware stores but it also means School District 43 is struggling with organizing classrooms in time for September.
At last Tuesday's school board meeting, staff said movement of students in and out of the district this spring and summer could make it tough to organize classes in September if schools don't know where students will land until the first day of school.
According to superintendent Patricia Gartland, the district needs more flexibility to handle last-minute classroom additions which could mean the need for about $1.3 million in teachers and education assistance to deal with class size and composition needs when students return to school Sept. 7.
"We don't think it's going to work without staffing in reserve," superintendent Patricia Gartland told The News.
The brisk housing market is a boon for schools if more students move here than leave, and a good sign is this year's busy kindergarten registration but because younger grades have smaller classes, there is again more need for teachers.
Gartland speculated that more young parents may be moving to the Tri-Cities because it's more affordable, compared to Vancouver, where the school district was recently told it should close 19 schools because of 10,000 empty classroom seats.
In all more than 1,000 single family homes have sold in the Tri-Cities since January, according the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
In Coquitlam, for example, single family home sales are up 18%, with 641 homes sold this year between January and the end of May compared to 543 for the same period last year. Port Coquitlam saw a 9.5% jump in single family home sales from 209 to 229 and Port Moody saw a 44% jump from 100 to 144.
Prices are also up with the median selling price in Coquitlam now $862,800, compared to $760,000 last year. In PoCo the median is $635,000 compared to $569,000 last year and in Port Moody the median house price of houses sold between January and May was $957,000 compared to $889,000 over the same period last year.
Buyers are prepared to pay more than asking and realtors are reporting final offers with no subjects attached.
Meanwhile, apartment and townhouse sales are also up in the Tri-Cities. In Coquitlam for example, 451 apartments have been sold recently compared to 310 last year, a 45% increase. Only Port Moody saw a downward trend in townhouse and apartment sales
