While properties continue to sell in the Vancouver Real Estate Market, the totals from September 2016 was 9.6-percent lower than the sales average for the month over the past ten years. However, that does not reflect the increase in listings nor does it show the new trend in housing demands.
According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, new listings in Metro Vancouver for detached, attached and apartment properties dipped marginally over the same period from 4,846 in September 2015 to 4,799 last month. That represents a decrease of one per cent.
Listing Numbers Show Increase
However, compared to numbers from August 2016 there actually has been a bit of a burst of activity. There were 4,293 properties listed in the month which puts September at an increase of 11.8-per cent. According to REBGV President Dan Morrison there is a good reason for the overall ten year drop in listings and that it is not a negative sign.
He says the demand for housing has shifted away from detached, attached and apartment properties in recent years. Morrison explains that the current trend is built upon a larger demand for condominiums and townhouses. He says the supply and demand conditions are directly related to this trend which does not show in the overall sales numbers.
Historic Listings Numbers Drop But Recent Numbers Rise
His statement is verified by the Metro Vancouver totals of homes currently in the sales market through the MLS system. At the end of September 2016 the figure was 9,354 – down almost 13.5 per cent from a year ago but up 10-percent from August 2016.
The number of sales also speaks loudly about the trend. The sales-to-active listing ratio was 24.1 per cent for September 2016. That’s the lowest it has been since February 2015 which signals a time frame for the existing shift in the housing market conditions.
Sales Figures Could Bring Prices Down
Actual sales of detached properties in September 2016 were 666, down 47.6 per cent from the previous year. Apartment sales experienced the same fate, down 20.3 per cent from last year at the same time with attached property sales falling 32.2 percent from September 2015.
Morrison says the change in the market conditions is providing a huge positive – it is taking away the upward pressure on pricing. Due to the level of uncertainty the REBGV President explains that price points are becoming more difficult to put in place for both buyers and sellers.
Additional Data
Other interesting facts from September 2016 in Metro Vancouver:
- Detached properties spent an average of 37 days on the market and reached a benchmark price of $1,579,400
- Apartment properties spent an average of 24 days on the market with a benchmark price of $511,800 recorded
- Townhouse properties attained a benchmark price of $677,000 and were on the market an average of 21 days.
These stats verify the emerging trend on apartment and townhouse property sales with both selling faster than detached properties. Analysts say that the longer the sales-to-active listings ratio stays above 20 per cent, the more upward pressure housing prices will experience. Pricing will see downward pressure once the ratio dips below 12 percent.
