It seems warmer weather isn’t the only change that summer has brought home buyers across Metro Vancouver*, but also further increases to the growing residential property pool.
According to Daniel John, Chair at the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), “Home buyers have more selection to choose from and more time to make decisions than they did over the past year. Rising interest rates and inflationary concerns are making buyers more cautious, which is allowing listings to accumulate.”
Now operating in a changing marketplace, buyers are weighing up various home types, price, and potential locations, which is resulting in less homes being sold across the region.
Housing Market at a Glance
Last month, The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reported that residential home sales in the region totalled 2,444. This shows a 35% drop from the 3,762 sales recorded a year earlier in June 2021, and a 16.2% decrease from the 2,918 homes sold a month earlier this year in May.
The changing market reduced sales down 23.3% below the 10-year June sales average.
Across Metro Vancouver, 5,256 detached, attached and apartment properties were newly listed for sale in June on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) – 10.1% less than the 5,849 homes listed in the same month a year earlier, and down 17.6% compared to May just been, which saw 6,377 new homes listed.
The total number of homes currently listed for sale on the MLS® system in Metro Vancouver is 10,425 – 3.8% less than the 10,839 listings we saw in June last year, however, still an increase from the 10,010 homes we’ve recently seen listed in May (+4.1%).
John adds, “We’re seeing downward pressure on home prices as we enter summer in Metro Vancouver due to declining home buyer activity, not increased supply. To meet Metro Vancouver’s long-term housing demands, we still need to significantly increase housing supply.”
Sales-to-Active Listings Ratio and Composite Benchmark Price
For all property types, the sales-to-active listings ratio for June 2022 was 23.4%. By property type, that ratio came out as:
Detached homes: 14.3%
Townhomes: 31.5%
Apartments: 30.2%
Generally, analysts say downward pressure on home prices occurs when the ratio dips below 12 per cent for a sustained period, while home prices often experience upward pressure when it surpasses 20 per cent over several months.
For all residential properties in Metro Vancouver, the MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark is currently $1,235,900. This represents a 12.4% increase over June back in 2021, but a 2.2% decrease over the past three months.
Metro Vancouver Home Sales by Property Type
Detached Homes
Sales of detached homes last month reached 653, a 48.3% decrease from the 1,262 detached sales recorded in June last year. The benchmark price for a detached home is $2,058,600, which represents a 13.4% upward spike from June in 2021, a 1.7% drop compared to May just been, and a 1.8% decrease over the past three months.
Apartment Homes
In June this year, sales of apartment homes reached 1,326, a 25.3% decrease compared to the 1,774 sales in June a year earlier. The benchmark price of an apartment home is $766,300. This is 12.7% more than in June 2021, 1.7% less compared to May just been, and a 0.8% drop over the past three months.
Attached Homes
Attached home sales in June totalled 465, a drop by 36% compared June last year, which saw 726 sales. The benchmark price of an attached home is $1,115,600. This represents a 17.8% increase over June last year, but a 2.2% decrease compared to May 2022. This also illustrated a drop by 2.7% over the past three months.
*Metro Vancouver areas covered by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver include: Burnaby, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond, South Delta, Squamish, Sunshine Coast, Vancouver, West Vancouver, and Whistler.
