Vancouver’s Market is No Longer A Seller’s Market

In the descending trending market, the real estate association has been working hard to have a positive outlook. It was declared by the British Columbia Real Estate Association in its recent sales report that; “BC home sales trend toward the ten-year average.”

Cameron Muir, the Chief Economist of BCREA said; “Moderating consumer demand in the province’s largest population centers continues to trend home sales toward the ten-year average. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of MLS® residential sales was approximately 89,000 units last month. The ten-year average is 83,000 unit sales, while the 15-year average is 85,300 unit sales.”

That may not be the bigger picture here, especially not for investors who are interested in the province. Over the year, sales have declined by 20.1% in the previous month, with residential sales coming in at 6,419 overall. The decline of prices dipped by 6.4% over the year to $625,871. It was a tough month for Vancouver, with unit sales falling by 37.4% to 2,255, and the average price falling to $85,084 by 3.8%. Vancouver’s market isn’t much of a seller’s market, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

In the monthly report of CREA, it stats release noted; “A sales-to-new listings ratio between 40 and 60 percent is generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions, with readings below and above this range indicating buyers’ and sellers’ markets respectively. The ratio was above 60 percent in almost half of all local housing markets in November, the vast majority of which are located in British Columbia, in and around the Greater Toronto Area and across Southwestern Ontario. In Greater Vancouver, the ratio has moved out of sellers’ market territory and into the mid-50 percent range.”

All hope is not lost however, BCREA mentioned again, concentrating on the upside saying; “Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume increased 22.8 per cent to $74.5 billion when compared with the same period in 2015. Residential unit sales climbed by 12.1 per cent to 107,488 units, while the average MLS residential price was up 9.6 per cent to $692,745.”