Price remain in July despite the challenges in Metro Vancouver low housing supply
Metro Vancouver home sales down slightly, prices unchanged in July: REBGV
Tiffany Crawford
The Province
Low housing supply continues to be a challenge in Metro Vancouver and will determine the next direction for housing price trends, says REBGV’s economist Keith Stewart
Home sales remained steady in July but there are still challenges with low housing supply. Photo by RICHARD LAM /PNG
Metro Vancouver home sales were down slightly while pricing remained steady in July, according to a Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver report on Wednesday.
The report says there were 3,326 home sales in the region last month, an 11.6 per cent decrease from the month previous and a 6.3 per cent increase from July 2020.
Last month’s sales were 13.3 per cent above the 10-year July sales average, according to the board.
“Moderation was the name of the game in July,” REBGV’s economist Keith Stewart said in a statement Wednesday.
“Home sales and listings fell in line with typical seasonal patterns as summer got going in earnest in July. On top of moderating market activity, price growth has levelled off in most areas and home types.”
New listings were also down 25.2 per cent to 4,377 last month compared with June and the report says July’s new listings were 12.3 per cent below the 10-year average for the month.
Stewart said low housing supply continues to be a challenge in Metro Vancouver and will determine the next direction for housing price trends.
For all property types, the report says sales-to-active listings ratio for July 2021 is 33.8 per cent. By property type, the ratio is 25.5 per cent for detached homes, 47.8 per cent for townhomes, and 37.3 per cent for apartments.
Prices begin to drop when the ratio dips below 12 per cent for a sustained period while prices go up when it’s more than 20 per cent over several months.
The composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is $1,175,500, according to the report, which is unchanged from June and a 13.8 per cent increase over last July.
For a detached home it was $1,801,100, an apartment property was $736,900, and the benchmark price for a townhouse was $949,400.
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