Week 8 – Market Update

While no one was looking the market got a little bit softer in the last week.

Sales fell from 254 to 224 while total active listings edged higher to 2,794 (from 2,761 the week before). The result? We found ourselves shifting a bit closer to a balanced market…but still in seller’s market territory with a months-of-inventory of 312 (2.72 the week before).

Most micro-markets followed the overall trend. That includes westside townhouses and condos as well as East Van houses and condos. Sales in all of these micro-markets slowed from the previous week and inventory grew. But there were a few bright spots, too.

The hottest market in the last week were East Van townhouses with just 1.63 months-of-inventory. Westside houses and Downtown condos also edged further into seller’s market territory.

Despite these underlying shifts, East Vancouver remains the driver of our market. And overall, the most activity that we are seeing is focused on the &ldquo...

Week 7 – Market Update

The last week could be summed up in one word; stability. After six weeks of fairly quick and steady improvements for nearly every micro-market last week was a sideways move.

Sales rose only marginally from 252 to 254. New Listings climbed from 351 to 353 and overall Active Listings reached 2,761 (from 2,717 the week before). This all translated to a slight increase in Month-of-Inventory 2.72 (from 2.7)…still squarely in an overall seller’s market.

In terms of micro-markets, East Vancouver continues to be the hotspot for buyers. East Van condos in particular had a very strong showing (MOI of just 1.65) as did East Van townhouses (MOI of 2.09). The parallel markets on the Westside also had a strong showing, but not quite as hot.

The Downtown core appears to be seeing a resurgence of buyer activity. What was one of the weakest micro-markets for much of 2020 has been in a Seller’s Market for the last month. Even downtown townhouses had their best...

Week 6 – Market Update

For the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vancouver real estate market was firmly in a seller’s market last week. We were at 2.7 months-of-inventory which is the lowest it’s been since late March 2020 (a number below 4 is typically considered to indicate a seller’s market).

Sales continued to rise last week, going from 219 to 252. Simultaneously, the listing inventory edged lower from 2,748 to 2,717…and new listings went from 328 to 351.

We are seeing elevated levels of demand and shrinking supply in most micro-markets. The most competitive markets in the last week were the condo markets across the city (East Van, Westide and even downtown), the East Van townhouse market as well as houses (even Westside houses are seeing signs of life but are not yet in a buyer’s market).

The weakest micro-markets were for Westside and downtown townhouses. Sales fell on the Westside from 13 back down to just 7 (although there...

Summary

In a “normal” year, January is one of the quietest months of the real estate calendar. It’s a month that many local realtors usually take vacation, because very little happens.

As we know, this isn’t a “normal” year and this January isn’t following the typical plan.

Overall inventory levels are low, which is fairly normal. Yes, they are a bit lower than normal but not significantly so (2,656 listings in January nearly 7% below the 2,848 of the 10-yr average).

What’s unusual is the amount of demand. There were 612 sales in January 2021. That’s nearly 23% above the 10-yr average (498)!

It appears that our market is ramping up in activity far faster than it usually does.

This is an indication of just how much untapped demand that there is in our market…especially for “affordable” price-points. But, even the luxury end of the market is now starting to see a bump in activity.

What does all this mean?

With elevated...