The number of sales of homes worth more than $4 million doubled in Vancouver in the first six months of 2016. Sotheby’s International said July 7.
The substantial increase could be expected given that the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver’s (REBGV) statistics show that the average home in Metro Vancouver increased in value 32.1% in June compared with a year earlier.
The Sotheby’s report, however, focused on what it calls a luxury market that starts at about $1 million – an amount that is not that much higher than the average home price in Metro Vancouver, which the REBGV pinned at $917,800 in its June 5 report.
Sotheby’s noted that, overall, a total of 3,111 properties – condominiums, attached and single family homes – that were valued at more than $1 million sold in Vancouver during the first half of 2016. That’s an increase of 26%, when compared to the same period in 2015.
The most significant sales gains were for homes valued at more than $4 million. Those sales doubled to 439 properties, Sotheby's said.
Sales for homes valued at between $2 million and $4 million in Vancouver during the first half of 2016 increased 21%, according to Sotheby’s, while those valued at between $1 million and $2 million saw sales growth of about 18%.
“Prices in both the conventional and luxury real estate markets saw record-breaking increases during the first six months of the year,” Sotheby’s said in its report.
When real estate class was broken down, it became clear that the increase in sales of these $1-million-plus homes was weighted disproportionately toward attached homes and condominiums.
The sales of detached single family homes valued at more than $1 million during the period saw a modest increase of 9% in the first half of 2016 with 2,086 units sold.
Sales for attached homes valued at more than $1 million increased 79% in the first half of 2016, compared to the year prior, while Vancouver's $1 million-plus condominium market outperformed that of other major Canadian cities with a year-over-year sales increase of 95% during the first half of 2016.
