Number of homes listed for sale in Vancouver less than half what's needed for market shift: board chair

Snow-covered houses and the downtown skyline are seen with the North Shore mountains in the distance after 21 centimetres of snow fell overnight, in Vancouver, on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Home sales in Metro Vancouver remained high last month, but experts noted what's being seen so far this spring is calmer than the record sales of this time last year.

Residential home sales totalled 4,344 in March – down 24 per cent from the same month last year, but up 27 per cent from February 2022 sales.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver attributed some of the decrease to what was a record-breaking March 2021. That month was the highest ever for sales in the history of the board.

Looking at the last 10 years, however, the 2022 sales for March were still 25.5 per cent above average.

According to the board's monthly report, demand for townhomes and condos is much greater than for detached homes in the region.

The sales-to-active-listings ratio last month was 73.3 per cent for townhomes, compared to 70.3 for apartments, and just 38.8 per cent for detached homes.

The board summarized what that means, for those unsure of the impact on the market: "Generally, analysts say downward pressure on home prices occurs when the ratio dips below 12 per cent for a sustained period, while home prices often experience upward pressure when it surpasses 20 per cent over several months."

The board said it's still seeing that upward pressure on prices across all housing categories, with lack of supply driving the surge.

"The number of homes listed for sale on our MLS system today is less than half of what's needed to shift the market into balanced territory," board chair Daniel John said in a statement Monday.

He said this year's activity is still elevated, but that the calmer pace seen in this year's market comes as would-be buyers keep an eye on rising interest rates.

There were 6,673 new listings in March, down about 20 per cent from what the board saw a year ago. As with sales, the number of listings increased from February.

The benchmark price for all residential properties in the region was at $1.36 million, up 20 per cent from last year's benchmark.

The sale of all home types was down in March, but benchmarks were up in all categories. Detached homes saw a benchmark of $2,118,600 in the region last month, up 23.4 per cent year-over-year, and 3.6 per cent from February.

The condo benchmark was up 16.8 per cent from March 2021, and 3.4 per cent from the previous month, and attached homes were selling for about 4.4 per cent more than March of last year.

Attached homes, such as townhouses, saw the largest month-over-month increase in benchmark at 28.1 per cent compared to February.

As has been noted by experts and the board for some time, particularly since the start of the pandemic meant the end of commuting for some, buyers looking to move to the suburbs and communities outside of the City of Vancouver are paying more. The benchmark for all residential homes in the region was highest last month in West Vancouver, followed by Bowen Island and Whistler.

At $1.57 million, the resort village had the highest benchmark for townhouses of all communities represented by the REBGV.

With files from The Canadian Press