Vancouver by Kenny Louie

Sunny weather didn't slow the pace of home sale activity in July. Last month was the highest-selling month of the year in Greater Vancouver and the highest-selling July since 2009. 

According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 2,946 on the Multiple Listings Service in July 2013. This represents an 40.4 per cent increase compared to the 2,098 sales recorded in July 2012, and an 11.5 per cent increase compared to the 2,642 sales seen in June 2013.

Demand has strengthened in our market in the last few months, which can, in part, be attributed to pent-up demand from the slowdown in sales activity we saw at the end of last year,

Sandra Wyant, REBGV president, said.  

In June, new listings for detached, attached, and apartment properties totalled 4,854 — a 1.1 per cent fall from the 4,802 new listings reported in July 2012, and a 0.4 per cent decline from the 4,874 new listings seen in June this year. The total number of properties currently listed for sale on the MLS® in Greater Vancouver is 16,618, which is an 8.1 per cent decrease compared to July 2012 and a 3.9 per cent decline compared to June 2013. 

The sales-to-active-listings ratio rose 2.5 percentage points between June and July to 17.7 per cent in Greater Vancouver. This is the highest this ratio has been in Greater Vancouver since April 2012.

The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver is currently $601,900. This represents a decline of 2.3 per cent compared to this time last year and an increase of 2.3 per cent over the last six months.

“Home prices continue to experience considerable stability with minimal fluctuation throughout much of this year,” Wyant said. “This stability in price brings greater certainty to the home buying and selling process.” 

• Detached property sales (with 1,249 units) experienced a 59 per cent increase compared to June 2012 (with 787 units), and a 13.7 per cent increase compared to July 2011 (with 1,099 units). The benchmark price has fallen by 3.1 per cent compared to last year’s benchmark price of $920,500.

• Apartment property sales (totalling 1,210 units) experienced an increase of 31 per cent compared to July 2012 (with 927 units) and a increase of 16.3 per cent compared to July 2011 (with 1,040 units). The benchmark price for an apartment property in Greater Vancouver declined 1.6 per cent from July 2012 to $368,300.

• Attached property sales (totalling 487 units) increased 27 per cent compared to July 2012 (with 384 units), and increased 12.7 per cent compared to July 2011 (with 432 units). The benchmark price of an attached unit decreased by 2.6 per cent between July 2012 and 2013 to $456,700.

Vancouver by Kenny Louie

Richmond, Vancouver East, and Vancouver West Sales Statistics Compared

In the second part of this month’s analysis, we’ll focus on the situation in the Vancouver East, Vancouver West, and Richmond real estate markets.

Vancouver East sales activity for detached properties in July increased by 5 per cent (from 141 to 148 units). The sales for attached properties rose 39.5 per cent (from 38 to 53 units), and increased 25.3 per cent in the apartments sector (from 99 to 124 units) compared to last month’s data.

Vancouver West sales activity for detached properties in July fell by 10.3. per cent (from 145 to 130 units) compared to last month. The situation for attached properties, with a 7.9 per cent decrease (from 63 to 58 units), isn't very stable — and apartments experienced a 0.5 per cent decrease compared to June 2013 (from 386 to 384 units).

Richmond experienced a 27 per cent increase in the detached properties market (from 127 to 115 units) compared to last month´s data. We also saw a decrease of 31.4 per cent in the attached properties market (from 105 to 72 units) and a 15.4 per cent decrease in the apartments sector (from 143 to 121 units) compared to the month before.

Year-over-year, Vancouver’s overall sales activity increased 13.2 per cent in detached, 3.2 per cent in attached properties, and 13.3 per cent in apartment properties.

New Listings in Vancouver East, Vancouver West, and Richmond

Vancouver West experienced a 13.8 per cent increase in the listings activity of detached houses (from 254 to 289 units) compared to last month’s decimated listings. For apartment properties, there was an increase of 0.2 per cent (from 597 to 596 units), and listed attached properties fell by 13.5 per cent (from 115 to 111 units).

Vancouver East recorded a 7.8 per cent drop (from 256 to 236 units) for detached properties, a significant 45.6 per cent increase in attached properties (from 57 to 83 units), and an 8.7 per cent drop in apartments compared to the end of last month’s results (from 183 to 167 units).

The Richmond real estate market experienced a 17.8 per cent increase (from 225 to 265 units) in the apartments sector compared to last month’s results. Listings of detached properties increased by 18.3 per cent (from 241 to 285 units), and there was an 8 per cent increase (from 150 to 162 units) in attached properties compared to June 2013.

Overall, the Vancouver listings of detached properties decreased by 1.1 per cent, and there was a 4.9 per cent decline in attached properties and a 1.7 per cent increase in apartments.