By Emma Crawford HampelMon Mar 17, 2014 8:46am PST

British Columbia is forecast to have the biggest jump in housing resale activity in 2014 in Canada, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

The CREA expects B.C. to see an increase in resale activity of 8.3% year-over-year – well above the anticipated national growth of 1.3%. While this means the province will be the biggest contributor to the expected growth across the country, the association said this is due to having had particularly slow sales in 2013, mostly in the early part of the year.

The opposite holds true for Canada as a whole, with 2014 starting out with low levels of growth compared with previous years. This is due to the particularly strong activity in the summer and fall of 2013.

“I expect fixed mortgage rates will edge marginally higher in the second half of 2014 as evidence confirms an anticipated pick-up in economic growth,” said CREA chief economist Gregory Klump.

“Marginally higher mortgage rates are likely to counterbalance the lift provided by stronger economic and continuing job growth, and restrain the momentum for sales activity.”

National sales are expected to climb to 463,700 units this year, and a further 1.2% in 2015 to 469,400 units.

The national average home price across the country is expected to rise by 3.8% in 2014, with similar gains in B.C.

ecrawford@biv.com