Increased sales of condos and town-houses surging real estate prices in Vancouver

Surging home sales in Vancouver continue to raise real estate home prices but while sales are escalating sharply in comparison to last month, they cannot be compared to last year’s highest home sales. A recent release from the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board indicates the sales of condos and townhouses are driving up home prices in the real estate market. Since January, there has been a 2.7% increase in the average home price in the city with home prices at $526,300. These price rises are seen in condo and townhouse apartment units with the average price for townhouse rising by 0.3% to $675,000 while detached homes maintained their prices at $1,474,200. The sudden increase in home sales was partly due to higher residential sales which were 59% higher compared to the previous month.
Nevertheless, the increase is still less than the figures recorded at the same period last year which homes sales were record high. According to the president of the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board, Dan Morrison, another contributing factor behind the rising prices is the lack of supply in the city. Presently Vancouver is going through a short supply of new homes while the demand side of the market is pretty high. Vancouver has also recorded the lowest home listing since 2003, with only 3,666 new homes listed in February. Morrison went adding that although home sales are moving at an unexpected rate compared to last year, the city is struggling to keep with the high demand for homes when there is a lack of new listings. This situation is taking a toll on home prices especially for condos and townhouses markets.
There is a similar trend going on in the Fraser Valley as the average home price is also on the increase. Figures from the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board shows the average home price in the valley rose o.4% to $859,300 in February. Prices for townhouses rose $422,400 a 0.5% increase since January and 25% since February 2016. The price for apartments was also up 1.8% reaching $267,000.