'A totally different market': Home sales, prices continue to decline in Metro Vancouver
The number of home sales in the Vancouver area dropped further in September, as higher interest rates continued to cool the region's hot housing market.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver released data Tuesday showing a 46.4 per cent decline when compared to the same time last year and a 9.8 per cent decline from August. Compared to the 10-year average, they were down 37.5 per cent.
"We saw kind of a continuing trend that we've experienced in Metro Vancouver over the last six months, which is fewer homebuyers active in the marketplace and a bit of an uptick in the number of sellers listing their properties for sale," explained the REBGV's Craig Munn.
"What we're really seeing right now is a market that's in transition."
Potential buyers are being deterred by both the interest rates and the broader inflationary trends that are making everything from food to fuel more expensive in the province. That decrease in demand, Munn said, is increasing available supply and driving prices down.
The benchmark price for all types of property for September was $1,155,300. While that is slightly higher than it was at the same time last year, it represents an 8.5 per cent decline over the past six months, according to the board's report.
"For people looking to get into the market, it's an interesting time," Munn said. "We're coming out of a period where there were record sales and it was a difficult time for buyers. They didn't have much time to make decisions, there was a lot of competition over fewer homes for sale. It's a totally different market today."
However, Munn also notes that these numbers paint a picture of activity across the entire region and doesn’t capture what is happening in different cities and neighbourhoods. In the suburbs, where home prices spiked earlier on in the COVID-19 pandemic, the decline in price is in the double-digits. He cites Port Coquitlam, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows as some examples.
"In a short period of time, some of those areas saw the largest increases in pricing and now we're seeing there's not as much stickiness perhaps to it," he said.
Both buyers and sellers, Munn said, will have to consider how to adapt to the changing conditions.
"It's really critical for individuals to look at their own individual circumstances, work with their Realtors do their homework to understand how today's conditions might benefit them or where there might be some risks that they need to take into consideration."
The full report form the REBGV is available online.
With files from CTV Vancouver's Spencer Harwood
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Louis Gossett Jr., 1st Black man to win supporting actor Oscar, dies at 87
Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries 'Roots,' has died. He was 87.
Weather alerts issued for 7 provinces, 1 territory
Warnings of up to 60 millimetres of rain and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces and one territory ahead of the Easter weekend.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Luxury cruise line selling world cruise suite for US$1.7 million
Luxury operator Regent Seven Seas Cruises is raising their price tag to eye-watering levels, with a suite on an upcoming 140-day world voyage costing US$1.7 million.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
A Filipino villager is nailed to a cross for the 35th time on Good Friday to pray for world peace
A Filipino villager has been nailed to a wooden cross for the 35th time to reenact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a brutal Good Friday tradition he said he would devote to pray for peace in Ukraine, Gaza and the disputed South China Sea.
Ontario homeowner on the hook for $27,000 when contractor severed power line
An Ontario man who built a garage on his property has been locked in a battle with his electricity provider for a year and half over a severed power line.
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.