Metro Vancouver condos have seen a marked increase in sales in recent months, with demand for apartment homes skyrocketing in February 2021. With transactions at the highest they’ve been in 4 years, Vancouver property sales seem to be booming despite the doomsday predictions of the early pandemic.
According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), there were 1,759 apartment home sales in February 2021, a whopping 65.8% increase compared to last year. An apartment home’s benchmark price is now $697,500, a 2.5% increase over last year and a 2.5% increase compared to January 2021
Buyers Driving Demand For Vancouver Real Estate
Market watchers expect Vancouver real estate to continue to be an intense seller’s market as we head into spring, especially in the downtown core. Buyers continue to benefit from a healthy supply in suburban Vancouver as they seek larger properties to continue working from home.
Move-up buyers (typically young couples and families) are currently driving demand in the Vancouver real estate market. The condominium market in Vancouver is most popular with single homebuyers. This trend can be expected to continue into the rest of the year with first-time homebuyers (typically single homebuyers) looking for condominiums. Condos that are spread out across West Vancouver, the North Shore and parts away from the downtown core, are also drawing more first-time homebuyers.
Sellers in some of Vancouver’s top-selling neighbourhoods, like Kitsilano, Fairview, and Mount Pleasant continue to field multiple offers. These neighbourhoods are expected to remain popular with record-low interest rates and pandemic responses fueling high demand well into 2021.
Price Surge In Vancouver Condo Market Going Forward
Condo sales have consistently been on the rise since 2017, with Vancouver Westside condos tracking the highest sales in February 2021. It is apparent that demand has been outweighing supply and sales are higher than listings which indicates another round of price increases in the Metro Vancouver market.
This condo resurgence has marked a shift away from most of 2020, which saw sellers leaving condos in favour of larger homes with more room. Compared to last year’s transactions focused on detached homes, buyers are now seeing an opportunity to downsize and invest in condos.
“Owners looking to downsize have an amazing opportunity right now,” said Dane Eitel, lead analyst at Eitel Insights, which tracks the residential market. “This is the first instance in four years where the price of an average detached house has reached over two and a half times the value of the average condo.”
Investing in Metro Vancouver real estate, no matter the size of the property, continues to be a smart idea. The PwC real estate outlook agrees, adding that “Vancouver will continue to be a place where people want to be, perhaps even more so after the pandemic.”
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