It's the calm before the storm.

As you've heard me say before, the last few weeks of summer are always quiet. It's Vancouver tradition to take time off through August. Spend time in the Okanagan, the Gulf Islands or on Vancouver Island...and away from buying/selling real estate.

Like clockwork, the past week followed that pattern. In general, market activity was subdued...BUT, there are some glimmers of what may be to come.

There were just 189 sales which was down slightly from 197 the week before. We've been flirting with the 200 sale level for the last few weeks...this being the 3rd time in the last 5 weeks under that bar (we were around 300 sales per week when the market was highly active back in the spring).

We did see new listings jump significantly...from 253 up to 330. That's a big jump and an indication of what's likely to come in the coming weeks. BUT, it's still well under the 500-odd new listings we saw hitting the market back in the spring.

We now have 3,306 active listings on...

Sales were strong in the last month. There were 930 homes sold in July. While it was 12.5% below the 1,063 sales we had in June, it was 8.8% over the 10-yr average.

At the same time, new listings dropped to 1,391 (-29.5% m-to-m and -8.2% below the 10-yr average). Total active listings were 3,754 which essentially matched the 10-yr average (-10.8% m-to-m).

The intense upward pressure on prices appears to have subsided. Most sub-markets edged slightly lower in price over the last month according to the REBGV.

Market activity is typically quieter through the summer months. July was no exception. However, it's interesting to see a divergence between supply (shrinking) and demand (growing).

The biggest impact on the market right now is a lack of supply. Buyers are frustrated that they aren't able to find the property that they want on the market right now.

As I said last month, this is an opportune time to buy without facing significant competition. The problem is actually finding a property...

Week 31 of the Vancouver real estate marekt (July 25th - July 31st, 2021) held some surprises. What would surprise no one is that most indicators showed our market slowing...EXCEPT sales (demand).

Sales actually rose from 224 to 230. That's not a big jump, but it does show demand remains. Meanwhile, new listings dropped to a low for 2021 from 293 to 242.

The result is that active listings (total inventory) fell from 3,792 to 3,604. Months-of-inventory, dropped from 4.23 to 3.92 which puts Vancouver in a seller's market (just barely).

Shockingly, that's the first time since Week 10 (the end of February) that we saw an improvement in the MOI for two consecutive weeks.

I suspect that we won't see a third. The fact that this past week coincided with the end of a month will have boosted the MOI number (we always see a peak in listing expiries at the end of a month...which lowers total active listings temporarily).

The hottest micro-markets continue to be stratas. Condos in particular in East...

What happened in the Vancouver real estate market in the last week (Week 28 - July 3rd - 10th, 2021)?

After a significant dip in all market activity the week before, we saw a bit of a resurgence. It was the first time in more than a month (5 weeks) that the market moved more towards a seller's market.

We find ourselves in an overall balanced market with 4.27 MOI (from 5.32 MOI).

Sales rose to 227 after dipping down to 181 the week before. That's also the first significant increase in sales in the last month. New listings also propelled higher with 399 way up from 263 the week before.

Condos on the Westside took the crown for the hottest micro-market in the past week. They were in a seller's market with 2.92 MOI. East Van condos weren't far behind with 3.12 MOI...and even downtown condos had a great week (the 60 sales moved them to 4.12 MOI).

While westside houses led on the downside with 8.17 MOI, it was a big improvement from the previous week. The micro-market that had the biggest downward...

Summer has arrived...and with it, our summer real estate market.

The record-setting pace of the spring market is now well behind us. Overall, our market still finds itself in a seller's market (but edging towards balanced territory at 3.67 MOI)...with some pockets still hot, and others cooling more dramatically.

Total sales in the last month hit 1,064 (-12% from the previous month). That's nearly 50% lower than the all-time peak reached back in March...but it's still about 10% higher than the 10-year average (so, still a good month in terms of sales).

New listings have been slowing down as we had 1,971 in the past month. That's about 10% over the 10-year average, but a decline of 15% from the month before (and about a 25% drop from the highest levels of the spring).

Total active listings actually dropped this past month to 4,030. That's 7% higher than the 10-year average and 2.6% lower than the previous month.

The most demand has been in Townhouses and condos outside of the downtown core in...

After a few weeks of gently moving towards a balanced market, our market moved more significantly into a balanced market. Market activity dropped significantly in the last week, across the board...partially due to the onset of summer but most importantly yet another long-weekend.

Sales dropped to 181 from 234. That's the lowest we've seen demand since the beginning of the year...way back in late-January 2021.

263 new listings in the last week (down from 374) is the lowest number of new listings we've seen all year...and overall, total active listings fell from 3,989 to 3,855. After seeing listings rise steadily for months, that's the 3rd week in a row that inventory levels have dropped.

East Van condos remain the strongest micro-market with just 2.25 MOI. East Van Townhouses were the only other micro-market still in a seller's market with 3.33 MOI.

If there's one thing to be said about the westside house market it's that it's been quite consistent the last few months. Unfotunately, it's...