Following suit with previous months, housing demand is still continuing to outpace supply. In May 2017, MLS® recorded a total of 12,402 residential unit sales and an average MLS® residential price in BC of $752,536 which is a 7.9% decrease and 4.2% increase, respectively, from the same period last year. Total sales dollar volume amounted to $9.33 Billion which is a 4% decrease from May 2016. 

“Market conditions have tightened considerably this spring as an upturn in consumer demand has not been accompanied by a rise in homes listed for sale,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “The supply of homes for sale in the province has fallen 50 per cent over the past five years.

There is a shortage of housing supply in the entire southern portion which consequently results in upward pressure on home prices. Total active listings has decreased by 11.1% in comparison to May 2016 and totals 28,404 units. The ratio of home sales to active listings was over 20% in 9 of the province's 11 real estate boards and over 50% in Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Chilliwack and Victoria.

Below you will find a comparative chart showing May 2017 and May 2016 figures for average residential price, active listings, sales-to-active listings, dollar volume and residential units sold in BC. (Click to enlarge photo).

For all your real estate needs, contact Amalia Liapis at 604-618-7000 or alternatively at amalia@wesellvancouver.ca.

Last month saw a 31.7% decrease in residential unit sales of 6,580 units recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in comparison to the same period last year. The total sales dollar volume also saw a decrease of 39.7% bringing it down to $4.53 Billion. 

"Consumer demand has returned to a more typical level over the first two months of the year," says Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. "While the home sales have declined nearly 32 per cent from the extraordinary performance of a year ago, last month's activity reflected the average for the month February since the year 2000."

As for the average MLS® residential price in the province, it also saw an 11.7% decrease which brought it down to $688,117. A main factor driving the average price down is that there was a decline in the proportion of provincial sales originating from the Vancouver region. There has been a 7% decline in BC home sales occurring in the REBGV area (44% to 37%) from the same period last year.

Year-to-date, there has been a decrease of 38.5% in BC residential sales dollar volume bringing it down to $7.3 Billion. Additionally, there has been a decrease of 28.5% in residential unit sales to 11,067 units and a decrease of 14.1% in the average MLS® residential price to $660,943.

For all your real estate needs, contact Amalia Liapis at 604-618-7000 or alternatively, at amalia@wesellvancouver.ca.

Source: British Columbia Real Estate Association

It's no surprise that the ongoing trend of housing demand outpacing supply has followed us into the month of May. Let's look back at April 2016 statistics to solidify our understanding of the housing market. 

There has been an increase of 30.3% residential unit sales when comparing April 2016 to April 2015 with a total of 12,969 units recorded. The total sales dollar volume was $9.64 Billion which is a 52.7% increase compared to the same period in time last year. Looking at the average MLS® residential price in BC of $743,640 shows a year-over-year increase of 17.2%. 

“Housing demand is exceptionally strong across the southern regions of the province,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “Consumers appear to be particularly active in the Vancouver Island, the Fraser Valley and the Thompson/Okanagan regions.” “Strong employment growth is helping underpin consumer confidence,” added Muir. 

Despite what appears to be a period of higher than normal unemployment, there has been an additional 78,000 workers employed in BC in the first quarter of 2016 which is a 3.5% increase in comparison to the same period last year. Looking at the year-to-date statistics, the BC residential sales dollar volume is sitting at $31.2 Billion (64.3% increase), unit sales total 28,028 units (36.2% increase) and the average MLS® residential price is currently $761,860 (20.6% increase). Take a look below for a regional breakdown of MLS comparative data and the changes from April 2015 to April 2016. 

Source: British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA)

For all your real estate needs, contact Amalia Liapis by e-mail at amalia@wesellvancouver.ca or alternatively by phone at 604-618-7000.

Looking back at the housing statistics of Metro Vancouver, there has been a steady increase in demand in the month of March. According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), residential property sales in Greater Vancouver topped out at 4,060 just last month. In comparison to the same month last year, there has been a 53.7% increase in unit sales and a 32.6% increase in comparison to February 2015. It has been noted that there has been strong competition amongst home buyers as there have been multiple offer situations and there has been some upward pressure on home prices. 

5,968 new listings in March for detached, attached and apartment properties within the Metro Vancouver area were recorded. In contrast to March 2014 totals, this represents a 13% increase. However, the total number of properties actively listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service has moved in the opposite direction with a 14.5% decline in comparison to March 2015 listings.

According to the REBGV president, Darcy McLeod, "[t]he number of homes for sale today is below what's typical for this time of year. If you've been considering putting your property on the market, these market conditions indicate that now may be a good time to list".

The Metro Vancouver residential properties benchmark price is currently sitting at $660,700. The sales-to-active-listings ratio is at an all-time high since July 2007 with a ratio of 32.8%.

For all your real estate needs, contact us at info@wesellvancouver.ca or alternatively at 604-801-6654.

These changes can be viewed by clicking here.