Week 26 – Vancouver Real Estate Week in Review (June 21st – June 27th, 2020)

Week 26 – Market Update
Overview

This was another good week for the Vancouver real estate market. That is, at least in relative terms.

Activity is significantly below what is normal for this time of year. However, across the board the trends are positive. We are seeing a return to sales levels not seen since pre-pandemic.

That being said, we need to watch to see what happens in coming weeks. This boost in activity COULD be due to buyers trying to get deals done prior to new CMHC lending rules coming into effect this week.

Vancouver West (Westside)

Westside houses are saw sales return to levels more in line with early spring pre-pandemic numbers. They increased this past week from 16 to 25. Inventory levels, meanwhile decreased (marginally) for the first time in a month.

Westside apartments didn’t fare quite as well. Sales fell for the first time in a couple of weeks from 40 down to 29 and inventory levels inched up from 651 to 675. Although, the units that did sell sold much more quickly with DOM going from 29 to just 17.

After it’s worst week in a couple of months, the westside Townhouse market bounced back strongly with jumping from 3 to 12 (a number not seen since before the pandemic). After climbing for the last month, inventory levels held steady at 189.

East Vancouver (Eastside)

Eastside houses and apartments held the gains made in recent weeks. Sales remained at levels only really seen pre-pandemic in the early spring. Meanwhile, inventory levels increased but only marginally.

East Vancouver Townhouses had a big week. After a couple of weeks of mid-single digit numbers, this past week saw 17 townhouses sell. Inventory rose slightly, while DOM remained low at just 16.

Downtown Vancouver

For another week, we saw positive trends continue to develop in the downtown Vancouver real estate market. Specifically, inventory remained fairly level (up just 6 listings) while sales continued to increase (from 32 to 40) for apartments. DOM increased marginally from 25 to 29.

For the first time in nearly three months we saw more than a single sale of a downtown Townhouse (2 sold). Inventory levels also dropped for the first time in that period. While DOM fell about 50% from the week before, they are still quite high at 48 days.

Summary

The theme for this past week was a return to pre-pandemic sales numbers. Many parts of the city saw sales activity return to what we often see in early spring. That’s a period where our market activity starts to awaken after a winter slumber. Those numbers are still well below what’s normal for THIS time of year BUT, it’s a positive sign as we look for indications that the Vancouver real estate market is recovering from effectively being shut down for months.

As with last week, my optimism is tempered by the possibility that much of this activity may be driven by buyers trying to slide deals in before CMHC rules change…something we will keep our eyes on.