BC Retail Sales Rise on Gas Price Boost - Okanagan Housing Shows Relative Resilience

June 19 2026 - Canadian retail sales increased by 0.5 per cent from the previous month to $73 billion in April 2026, according to data highlighted in the British Columbia Real Estate Association’s (BCrea) latest report.

However, core retail sales (excluding gas and autos) actually declined by 0.7 percent.

BC residential sales totalled 6,790 units in May 2026, down 2 per cent from May 2025, according to BCrea

In British Columbia, retail sales rose 1.0 per cent from March 2026 and were 1.4 per cent higher than April 2025 (the same month last year).

 A major driver of higher retail sales was higher fuel prices, which caused dollar sales at gasoline stations to jump 24.97 percent compared to April 2025, not necessarily because more litres of fuel were sold.

Why two different sets of gas numbers?

Headline retail sales include gasoline and look stronger when pump prices rise. Core retail sales leave out gas stations to better show how much people are spending on everyday items like food, clothing, and general merchandise.

Higher global oil prices boosted the headline number this month.

Longer-term context:

While the 1.4% gain is positive compared to last year, BC retail sales have been growing at roughly 1% real growth per year over the past decade (after inflation and currency effects).

This is significantly slower than the 4–5% annual growth that was more typical in previous decades, meaning the growth rate itself is now only about one-quarter as strong as before.

On the housing side, BC residential sales totalled 6,790 units in May 2026, down 2 per cent from May 2025, according to BCrea.

The provincial average price was approximately $946,000, also down from last year.

Vernon and the North Okanagan are performing relatively better than much of BC. The Okanagan board recorded 906 unit sales in May, up 1.5 per cent from May 2025, with an average price of about $771,000 (down 2.6 per cent from last year).

Nationally, home sales rose 5.5 per cent from the previous month but were down 5.1 per cent from May 2025.

Overall, BC consumer spending is showing modest gains compared to the same time last year, helped by higher gas prices, while the housing market remains cooled with pockets of relative strength in the Okanagan.

You can find this information and the full reports on the BCrea website at https://www.bcrea.bc.ca/.

BC Retail Sales Rise on Gas Price Boost - Okanagan Housing Shows Relative Resilience