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December 2020 Vancouver Real Estate Review

Happy New Year everyone! I hope each of you are safe and sound and ready to take on 2021. Looking back at 2020, it is totally bizarre that it would take a pandemic to boost the real estate market. After two years of declining values, BC Assessment records show increases of 0% to 10% for properties in BC. And note BC Assessment is a snapshot of value based on July 1 of last year, so the current value is probably a bit higher now. As a whole the year’s real estate numbers are middle of the road. The total sales number was 2.8% below the 10-year average and the total listings were 2.7% below the 10-year average. Considering two years of declining values and weaker

January 6, 2021 No Comments

November 2020 Vancouver Real Estate Review

Government stimulus and the changing work requirements are continuing to shape the real estate market. The low interest rates assisted by government bond buying and government assistance programs have kept the real estate market active. The November sales were 24.6% above the 10-year November sales average. The second highest November sales on record. With more jobs allowing for work from home, condos in the city have fallen out of favor. This is allowing people to move further from the city to find value. Increased workspace and a yard have become more important. These factors explain the why townhouses are in high demand and why apartment prices dropped over the last month. This also shines a light on why the Sunshine Coast had an 82.8% increase

January 4, 2021 No Comments

October 2020 Vancouver Real Estate Review

As articles continue to warn about the impending fall of the real estate market, the market in the Greater Vancouver region just chugged along. While not as strong as September, October sales were 34.7% above the 10-year October average and the second highest October sales figure on record. The sales-to-active listings ratios point to townhomes as being the hottest segment. This is probably due to the combination of affordable price range and livability. More people are wanting a larger space because they are working from home. The sales-to-active listings ratio for detached homes is 30.9%, for townhomes is 43.5% and for apartments 24.9%. Apartments is the weakest segment but any time the ratio goes over 20%, it is considered to be an indication of upward

January 4, 2021 No Comments

September 2020 Vancouver Real Estate Review

In September the real estate market just became super hot! While there are many headlines touting the 56.2% increase over last year, it is the 10-year average number that is impressive. When the year before was weak, the year-over-year numbers are always strong. But this past September, the sales are 44.8% above the 10-year September average. The busiest September on record. The sales-to-active listings ratio indicates that this is a seller’s market. By property type, the ratio is 28.3% for detached homes, 36.1% for townhomes, and 24.8% for apartments. Any time the ratio is above 20%, there is upward pressure on prices. For detached homes, the benchmark price increased 1.1% from last month and 7.8% from a year ago. The benchmark price for attached homes

January 4, 2021 No Comments

August 2020 Vancouver Real Estate Review

2020 continues to be a perplexing year. In August there were negative news abound in the real estate market. Reduced immigration. Reduced foreign students. A quarter of Canadians between 25 and 30 years old have lost their jobs or been put on unpaid leave. A huge number of condos flooded the Vancouver market in July. 30% of restaurants may permanently close. End of government programs coming. Many predicted softness in the market, except the real estate boards and real estate companies. But this time they have gotten it right with their eternal optimism. The August sales volume is 19.9% above the 10-year average. There was enough competition in the market to drive the prices up. The benchmark price of a detached home went up 1%

January 4, 2021 No Comments

July 2020 Vancouver Real Estate Review

While negative news article regarding real estate prices continues in July, the real estate market continues to recover. In fact it is surprisingly strong. The July sales volume in Vancouver are 9.4% above the 10-year July average. 22.3% increase from last year and 28% increase from last month. And prices continue to go up. The benchmark price for a detached home is up 5% compared to last year and 0.9% compared to June. For apartments the numbers are 4.2% and 0.3% respectively. For attached homes, the numbers are 3.7% and 0.9%. It seems like the spring market was just delayed by the covid-19 pandemic and the pent-up demand is fueling the impressive sales volume in July. Buyers seem to be looking past the pandemic. So

January 4, 2021 No Comments

June 2020 Vancouver Real Estate Review

Relative to the last few months, June was a strong month for real estate. Sales increased 64.5% from this May. In the big picture, sales were 21.9% below the 10-year June sales average. However, this is still better than last June by 17.6%, when the sales were 34.9% below the 10-year sales average. The strong showing might be due to the pent up from the months of restrictions. An RBC economist announced last month that we have probably seen the peak prices for real estate for the year. This correlates well with the fact that all benchmark prices have dropped in June. For detached home, the benchmark price dropped 0.5%. For apartment and attached homes, the benchmark prices have decrease 0.8% and 0.2% respectively. The

July 8, 2020 No Comments

May 2020 Vancouver Real Estate Review

In this past month of May, the sales were 43.7% lower than May 2019 and 54.4% below the 10-year May sales average. Despite the anemic sales, the prices have not moved much. For detached homes the benchmark price went up 0.3% from the previous month and still up 2.9% from May 2019. For apartment homes, the benchmark price went down 0.3% from the previous month but still up 3% from May 2019. For attached homes, the benchmark price went up 0.2% from the previous month and up 1.8% from May 2019. The inventory is 32.4% lower than a year ago and that might explain part of the price stability. The sales-to-active listings ratio are still healthy. It is 13.5% for detached homes, 18.9% for townhomes

July 7, 2020 No Comments

April 2020 Vancouver Real Estate Review

It has been a rough month globally and I am glad here in BC, we seem to have a better handle on the pandemic than the States. I hope everyone is healthy and doing well. I have included the help-links from the province and federal government in case someone needs the help. BC Government COVID-19 Page: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-preparedness-response-recovery/covid-19-provincial-support Federal Government COVID-19 Page: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/economic-response-plan.html In terms of the real estate market in April, sales are slow, inventory is holding steady and so are the prices. There were 1,109 sales in Metro Vancouver last month. That is a 39.4% decrease from last year. But last year was a bad year. Last April’s sales were 29.1% below the year before. For comparison, at the market high in March 2016

July 6, 2020 No Comments