Falling home sales in Metro Vancouver are “largely policy induced” and policymakers are “using policy to delay housing demand and feeding disruptive cycles,” according to the new president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).
Issuing its monthly market statistics April 2, the REBGV reported that there were just 1,727 home sales in March 2019, which is 31.4% year over year decline, and 46.3% below the 10-year average for the month.
It’s also the lowest number of March home sales since 1986.
However, the sales total is higher than one monthly previously, up 16.4% from the 1,484 homes sold in February, which is typical for this time of year.
“Housing demand today isn’t aligning with our growing economy and low unemployment rates. The market trends we’re seeing are largely policy induced,” said Ashley Smith, the new REBGV president. “For three years, governments at all levels have imposed new taxes and borrowing requirements on to the housing market.”
She added, “What policymakers are failing to recognize is that demand-side measures don’t eliminate demand, they sideline potential home buyers in the short term. That demand is ultimately satisfied down the line because shelter needs don’t go away. Using public policy to delay local demand in the housing market just feeds disruptive cycles that have been so well-documented in our region.”
The number of homes for sale continues to climb as sellers try to offload their properties in what is traditionally a busy spring market, while buyers hold back. There were 4,949 homes newly listed for sale on the MLS in March 2019. This is an 11.2% increase from March 2018 and 27.2% higher than February 2019.
The total number of homes available on Metro Vancouver’s MLS as of the end of March is 12,774, a 52.4% increase compared with March 2018 and up 10.2% month over month.
The overall sales-to-active listings ration for all property types is teetering between a balanced market and a buyer’s market, and currently standing at 13.5%. The improvement in sales in March brought this figure back into balanced market territory, which is generally between 12 and 20%.
However, the market varies greatly by property type, as the ratio is 9.4% for detached homes, which is firmly a buyer’s market. It’s a balanced market for townhomes/duplexes/rowhomes at 15.9%, and for condos at 17.2%.
The benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver stands at $1,011,200, which is a 7.7% drop from March 2018, and a 0.5% slide in the month since February 2019.
Sales and prices by property type and area
There were 529 sales of Metro Vancouver detached homes in March, which is a 26.7% year over year decline, but an 18.1% rise compared with February this year.
The benchmark price for a detached home in the region is $1,437,100, which is 10.5% lower then March 2018, and a 0.4% decrease from February 2019.
West Vancouver continued to see the largest year-over-year detached home price drops, down 17.1%, followed by North Vancouver (-12.8%) and Richmond (-12.6%). The benchmark price of a single-family house in Vancouver West – which comprises West Side, Downtown West and West End, but for detached homes is essentially just the West Side – was down 12.3%.
The only area to see higher detached prices than last year was Bowen Island, up 0.9%, while the Sunshine Coast prices slid very slightly for the first time but largely held their value, down 0.2%.
Attached homes such as townhouses, duplexes and rowhomes saw a fairly dismal 325 transactions across the region in March. This was a 27.1% annual decrease, and down nearly 19% in the single month since February this year.
A typical attached home price is now pegged at $783,600, 6% lower than in March 2018, and a 0.7% decrease compared with February.
Benchmark attached home prices fell the most in Vancouver East (East Side and Downtown East), at 9.6% lower than a year ago, followed by Port Coquitlam (-8.6%) and Coquitlam (-7.4%). Townhome prices fell in all Metro Vancouver areas, but saw the least-steep declines in New Westminster (-2.4%) and Burnaby East (-2.7%).
Some 873 Metro Vancouver condos exchanged hands last month, a 35.3% decrease compared with one year previously but a 15% rise from February’s figure.
The benchmark price of a condo now stands at $656,900, which is 5.9% less than March 2018, and a slight drop of 0.5% from February 2019.
West Vancouver once again saw the steepest price declines, with a typical condo in the municipality pegged at 12.7% less than the same month last year. The only other area to see a double-digit condo price drop was Burnaby East, down 10.4% year over year. Like with townhomes, all 18 areas in the REBGV jurisdiction saw condo prices lower than one year ago, with Coquitlam (-2.5%) and Richmond (-3.3%) seeing the least damage.
For more details, check out the full REBGV stats package.
Glacier Media Real Estate
