May 2021 – Monthly Vancouver Real Estate Update

Moderation was the key for the month of May.

After setting records for activity in the months of March and April, our market eased this past month. Specifically, both Sales and New Listings came off their record-setting pace.

Make no mistake, we are still (predominantly) in a sellers market. The 1,209 sales in Vancouver last month are still over 20% above our 10-year average for the month. Yet, it was an 8.4% decline from the previous month.

The 2,320 new listings that came onto the market are nearly 28% higher than the 10-year average. However, that's 9% lower than the number of new listings that came on the market in April.

The result is that total active listings reached 3,962. That's 7.5% over the 10-year average and about the same amount (8%) over last month. 

Most micro-markets in Vancouver still find themselves in a very heated seller's market. Competition for desirable listings is high and sales over and above the asking price are still common.

That reality is playing out in increasing prices. We can see that nearly every property type had a strong increase in prices month-to-month. I expect that the coming months will continue to see prices rise, but at a slower pace than what we've seen recently.

Condos have been the hottest category of late. Specifically in East Vancouver and Downtown as well. Townhouses on the westside have also been strong recently.

The market showing the greatest signs of weakness is for Westside houses. My weekly analysis shows that months-of-inventory is sitting around 9. That puts this micro-market severely in a buyer's market.

As mentioned, this is still overall a very hot market.

Interest rates are near record lows, the world is beginning to open back up, and people continue to want more space. However, we are seeing interest rates tick upwards and a new mortgage stress test has just been put into effect.

We will need to continue to watch how this plays out. 

I believe we are likely to see activity levels continue to decline in the coming months. However, they will remain above typical levels and continue to push prices (for the most part) higher.