Summary

October in Vancouver was a little less robust than September. And yet it was still a strong month in terms of market activity.

Sales fell -4.2% from 978 last month to 937 in October (this was +14% year-over-year). But this was still nearly 16% over the 10 year average for the month.

It appears as though we likely saw the top for total listing inventory for the year. Both New Listings (-13.3%) coming onto the market as well as Active Listings (-4.2%) fell in comparison to September.

The hottest market remained East Vancouver…for all housing types. All three are seeing a Seller’s Market (although my weekly analysis is showing this has been weakening a bit as the month of October came to an end).

Westside all housing types are in a Balanced Market. The hottest being houses (particularly the lower end) and the slowest being apartment condominiums.

We are continuing to see the impact of the pandemic on the housing market. The public is prioritizing housing over proximity...

Week 43 – Market Update

As suspected, last week’s (relative) pause in sales was an anomaly. One which we can more than likely attribute to the Thanksgiving Day long weekend.

This past week, the general trends we’ve seen in recent weeks continued. Sales returned to well above 200 (228 from 193 the week before). We also had new listings continue to decline, although at a much slower pace (down from 401 to 390). Total active listings fell slightly to 4,210 from 4, 222 the week before…returning us to the lower end of a Balanced Market with 4.62 months of inventory.

The hottest market segment this past week was Townhouses with months of inventory in Seller’s Market territory at just 3.39. This was mostly in East Vancouver where sales jumped from just 11 last week to 24 this week. Houses were also VERY active with overall months of inventory also in Seller’s Markert at 3.86. Once again, this was led with East Vancouver where sales bumped from 25 the previous...

Week 42 – Market Update

Overall, this last week showed increasing signs of weakness in our market. We are still in Balanced Market territory, but we moved pretty significantly towards (from 4.45 to 5.47) a Buyer’s Market (a buyer’s market is generally agreed to be >6 months of inventory).

Sales fell from 234 to 193. This is just the second time in the last 2.5 months that sales in Vancouver dropped below 200 in a week. While active listings continued to climb, the pace has slowed…and new listings once again fell about 10% to 401 from 441.

In terms of micro-markets, there were some significant shifts from previous weeks. The most surprising is the drop in East Vancouver house activity. With just 25 sales and only 9 over asking, that’s the lowest sales activity seen in this micro-market since Week 33. Eastside condos as well as all of the Westside segments had a relatively strong showing.

I am hesitant to draw too many conclusions from this week, however....

Week 41 – Market Update

This past week the overall market remained in Balanced Market territory. The months of inventory edged down slightly to 4.45 from 4.62. Sales rose to their 2nd highest weekly level of the year (234) while New Listings fell nearly 10% to 441. Overall listings rose marginally from 4141 to 4169.

All micro-markets were in a Balanced Market. The greatest level of improvement and activity was seen for Apartments. Specifically, on the Westside of Vancouver where Sales rose from 46 to 60 (the highest level of the year).

House sales remained fairly consistent across the City but sales numbers have fallen for the last couple of weeks. East Vancouver detached continues to be hot with nearly 50% of sales happening in multiple offers.

The Downtown market is once again the lagard. Although Sales did improve for the first week after three straight weeks of declines.

Vancouver West (Westside)

East Vancouver (Eastside)

Downtown Vancouver

Summary

September isn’t usually a record month in the Vancouver real estate market.

Typically, it’s a bit slower as people return to their routines after summer. There’s often a bit of a summer hang-over before the fall market really gets underway.

As with so many other things, this year is different.

We saw a massive +40% increase in Sales year-over-year for Vancouver (and about 20% over the 10-year average). The 978 Sales that were recorded were the most ever sold in the month of September.

On first blush, that’s pretty astonishing given that we are still in a pandemic with so much uncertainty swirling around us. But, there are two things that appear to be driving this market right now.

Interest rates and lifestyle priorities.

For one, we are seeing incredibly low interest rates. That’s making things more affordable for buyers. While banks are making it more challenging to qualify for mortgages, those that CAN qualify are securing amazing rates.

Secondly,...

Week 40 – Market Update

Last week the market hovered just above Seller’s Market territory. This past week, sales slowed a little (down by about 10% to 224 from a 2020 high of 249) while new listings continued to rise (up to a 2020 high of 481 from 479). That meant we went from 4.18 months of inventory to 4.62…a solidly Balanced Market number.

And yet, the market isn’t uniform. We are seeing the most strength in East Vancouver where we’ve been in a Seller’s Market for the last 7 weeks…especially detached (houses) as well as apartments. The Westside market is a little slower, but the slowest market continues to be Downtown where both condos and townhouses are solidly in Buyer’s Market territory.

Once again, if you are looking for bargains in this market you need to be looking Downtown. That’s an area that has lost it’s allure through the pandemic, but it’s likely to come roaring back once we are able to make everyone feel...

Week 39 – Market Update

The fall market appears to be in full swing.

We set records for 2020 on all fronts (New Listings, Total Active Listings as well as Sales). It’s a positive sign to see this level of activity indicating an immense amount of confidence in the Vancouver real estate market by both sellers as well as buyers.

Sales are outpacing new listings coming on to the market. The result is that we are (overall) getting pushed toward a seller’s market as indicated by our Months of Supply hitting a post-COVID 2020 low of 4.18.

More than ever, not all micro-markets in Vancouver are behaving in unison. The hottest market is the Detached (house) market on both the East and Westside. The same holds true for Townhouses/Duplexes on both sides of the city.

Condos are another story. While they are holding steady in East Vancouver and the Westside, the downtown market is the weakest of all the micro-markets…staying firmly in buyer’s market territory.

If you are...

Week 38 – Market Update
Overview

The Vancouver real estate market saw higher activity levels continue in Week 38 (September 13th – September 19th, 2020). We had one quieter week for sales in the previous week, but that did not become a trend.

In fact, sales numbers hovered just below the highs for the year hitting 219 (previous week was 188). Meanwhile, overall listing numbers continue to grow. 467 new listings bumped up the overall listing count to a high of 4130 for 2020.

You can see by that blue line in the chart above, that the trend for the Months of Inventory has been lower over the last couple of months (generally, from the top left to the bottom right)…indicating an increasing seller’s market and a market that is getting stronger.

Diving into the specific micro-markets, given the overall trend it’s not surprising to see most markets performing very well. The strongest markets appear to be East Vancouver houses and townhouses and Westside townhouses...

Summary

We have come a very long way since April.

This August saw one of the strongest performances for the month in the last 5 years. Normally, August is one of the quietest months of the summer as everyone packs in their final summer holidays and turns their attention to the beginning of the school year. That was not the case this year.

For the City of Vancouver, sales hit 819 which was up only slightly over last month (+().24%) but a massive increase over a year ago (+24.66%). This was approximately 10% over the 10-year-average for sales in the month of August.

Meanwhile, Total Active Listings edged lower (-3.5% from last month and -4.1% from last year). The 3,637 listings was about dead even for the 10-year-average which stands at 3632.

This is particularly noteworthy given that we had a slower start to the month (a trend that I pointed out in my regular weekly market update) . The first two weeks of August actually saw a bit of a dip in activity…something that would have been...

Week 36 – Market Update
Overview

It was yet another busy week for Vancouver real estate.

The typical pattern we usually see leading up to the Labour Day long weekend is one of subdued activity. In this unusual year, that typical pattern has been thrown out the window.

The last three weeks have been particularly strong. We set highs for the year LAST week for Sales (227) as well as Total Active Listings (3883). This dropped ever so slightly to 223 and 3863 in Week 36 (the week ending September 5th, 2020).

The ever so important Months of Inventory reached a pandemic low of just 4.28 last week but rose slightly this week to 4.33…overall still in Seller’s Market territory.

In terms of sub-markets, East Van houses and condos both hit highs for the years in regard to sales (38 and 41 respectively)…but all sub-markets had above-average levels of activity this past week.

I expect that we will see a greater number of listings coming onto the market in the coming weeks…as...