Metro Vancouver home sales soared in June in comparison to May, and to June 2019, but remain far below the historical average for the month, according to data released July 3 from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).
There were 2,443 home sales in June, which was 17.6% more than the 2,077 home sales in June 2019, and 64.5% more than the 1,485 homes that transacted in May.
The rise in sales, however, remains 21.9% below the 10-year average for home sales in June.
Prices have held steady.
The benchmark price for all Metro Vancouver homes that sold in June was $1,025,300, which was down 0.3% from May but up 3.5% from the same month a year ago.
“Home prices have remained steady with minimal fluctuation over the last few months,” said REBGV chair Colette Gerber. “With increasing demand, realtors have begun seeing multiple offers for homes priced competitively for today’s market.”
There were 5,787 detached, attached and apartment properties newly listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in the region in June 2020. This represents a 21.8% increase compared to the 4,751 homes listed in June 2019, and a 57.1% increase compared to May 2020, when 3,684 homes were listed.
The total number of homes currently listed for sale on the MLS system in Metro Vancouver is 11,424. That's 23.7% down from the 14,968 homes that were listed for sale in June 2019, but up 15.1% from the 9,927 listed properties in May 2020.
For all property types, the sales-to-active listings ratio for June 2020 was 21.4%. By property type, the ratio is 19.9% for detached homes, 25.2% for townhomes, and 21.3% for apartments. Real estate insiders tend to describe the market as a “buyers’ market” when the sales-to-active-listings ratio is less than 12%, and a “sellers’ market” when that ratio is above about 20% for several months in a row.
Sales of detached homes in June reached 866, up 16.1% from the 746 detached sales recorded in June 2019. The benchmark price for a detached home was $1,464,200, up 3.6% from June 2019, and up 0.5% from May 2020.
Apartment home sales increased to 1,105 in June, up 17.4% increase from the 941 sales in June 2019. The benchmark price of an apartment property was $680,800, up 3.6% from June 2019, and down 0.8% from May 2020.
Attached homes were the residential real estate class that saw the biggest percentage jump in price, year-over-year. Those sales in June totalled 472, up 21% compared to the 390 sales in the same month a year ago. The benchmark price for an attached home in June was $790,800, up 2.3% from June, 2019, but down 0.2% compared with May.
