Average Vancouver home price increases almost 16% over past year
Repeat sales prices up 10%
Emma Crawford Hampel
Van. Courier
Vancouver home prices continued to grow in October, with the average sale price increasing 15.6 per cent over the past year and the repeat sale prices increasing 9.83 per cent.
The average sale price for all home types in Greater Vancouver was $947,334 in October, up 15.6 per cent compared with $819,336 last year, according to data released by the British Columbia Real Estate Association. Across British Columbia, the average sale price was $667,480, up 16 per cent from $575,504 last year.
In total, over $5.8 billion in residential sales took place in the month across the province, with more than $3.5 billion attributable to Greater Vancouver. These totals represent year-over-year increases of 32 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively.
“Consumer demand continued at a heightened pace in October,” said BCREA economist Brendon Ogmundson.
“Market conditions have diverged significantly in the province as very low supply and a near record pace of home sales in the Metro Vancouver area is offsetting resource sector-driven weakness in northern markets.”
The BCREA said the Lower Mainland market had a three-month supply of residential inventory. Across the province as a whole, the supply was about four months.
“A balanced market typically exhibits a five-to-eight month supply of homes for sale,” the BCREA said.
In terms of repeat sales, the city once again saw the biggest year-over-year increases across the country, according to Teranet’s home price index.
Teranet uses statistics compiled from public land registries using a repeat-sales methodology, which means it looks at sales of homes that have been sold at least twice since 1990.
Repeat sale home prices increased 9.83 per cent in October compared with a year earlier, according to the data released November 12.
Price increases in Toronto and Hamilton, both up 9.3 per cent, in Victoria, up 6.4 per cent and in Edmonton, 1.4 per cent, helped prices grow 5.6 per cent overall nationwide. Prices either fell or stayed the same in all other major centres. The biggest decreases were in Quebec City (down 3.2 per cent), Calgary (down 1 per cent) and Montreal (down 0.6 per cent).
“[October] was the first month since October 2009 that prices were up from a year earlier in only five of the 11 metropolitan markets surveyed,” said Marc Pinsonneault, senior economist, National Bank of Canada’s economics and strategy group.
Compared with one month prior, home prices were up 0.6 per cent in Vancouver, which was well above the national average of 0.1 per cent. Winnipeg led the country in gains in October, with prices increasing 1.9 per cent. Prices were up in Toronto and Victoria (both 0.3 per cent) and Edmonton (0.2 per cent), but fell in all other major centres including Halifax (down 1.7 per cent) and Calgary (down 0.8 per cent).
“For Vancouver it was the 10th consecutive month in which prices did not fall, for Toronto the eighth — a trend consistent with the sellers’-market conditions prevailing in those two markets,” said Pinsonneault.
© 2015 Vancouver Courier