Week 23 – Vancouver Real Estate Week in Review (May 31st – June 6th, 2020)

Week 23 – Market Update
Overview

If I was to characterize the week, it would be to say that it held it’s own. The market did not (generally) trend positively or negatively.

So, after seeing last week improve considerably over the week before it’s a positive to see these gains hold.

We are seeing most activity happen at the lower, more affordable price points. If there is weakness it is in the more luxurious price segments.

One area that I did take notice of is East Vancouver townhouses. That appears to be particularly strong with just 1.5 months of inventory and 40% of sales having sold in multiple offers (4 of 10).

Vancouver West (Westside)

The Westside showed a bit more weakness than other parts of the city, but only marginally so. This makes sense if the strongest parts of the market right now are the affordable price bands.

Houses saw a slight deterioration over the previous week. Sales dropped, inventory climbed slightly and DOM also increased. The average and median sale prices dipped.

Westside apartments held fairly steady from the previous week. There was a slight increase in inventory and DOM. Sales improved slightly. The average and median sales numbers indicate that some higher priced condos were sold (going against the general trend).

Just as with apartments, townhouses on the Westside were pretty even from the previous week. Sales stayed even, inventory rose slightly and DOM increased.

East Vancouver (Eastside)

East Vancouver houses improved slightly over the previous week. We saw sales hold steady. Total inventory rose only marginally, but there was a dramatic improvement in DOM and a slight uptick in homes that sold over their asking price.

Apartments in East Vancouver held fairly steady from the previous couple weeks. The only notable changes were a slight increase in listing inventory (a fairly normal thing at this time of year) and a bump up in the DOM.

East Van townhouses are where the most dramatic improvements were seen in the last week. Sales improved and the number that sold in multiple offers ramped up as well. At the same time total inventory fell as did DOM.

Downtown Vancouver

Downtown has not been a hotbed of activity. While there are signs of improvement, the market downtown does not appear to be improving as quickly as other areas of the city.

Sales of Downtown apartments have held steady for the last four weeks. Meanwhile, inventory levels increased by about 50% and new listings continue to ramp up as restrictions lift. This is one area where we are seeing sales of upper end property, however.

The Downtown townhouse market is a difficult one to track as it goes in fits and starts. It’s a smaller submarket, and so there are many periods where we don’t see any sales at all…such as this past week.

Weekly Stats - Downtown Vancouver Apartments - May 31 2020 - Jun 6 2020

Summary

The bottom line is that Week 23 held the gains we saw in Week 22.

The “bottom” seen in mid-April is now well behind us. As social and economic restrictions continue to lift (and weather improves) life is returning to the Vancouver real estate market.

So long as the messaging in the media and from various levels of government doesn’t turn negative, we should see continued improvements in the Vancouver real estate market.