Winter is typically the quietest period in the Vancouver real estate market. That season begins with the month of December and the onset of the holiday season.

This past December certainly saw that expected decline in market activity.

Sales fell to 763 (-26% month-to-month and -9% year-to-year). While it was down in the most recent comparisons, that sales number was WELL above the 10-year average...28% over, in fact.

Meanwhile, new listings dropped significantly to 613 (-55% month-to-month and -11% year-to-year). This number was +19% over the 10-year average.

I believe that this is the story for December. Both sales and new listings were WAY above what we find is normal for the month...and yet, total active listings reached just 2,225 (-32% month-to-month and -26% year-to-year).

That active listing count is -13% the 10-year average...and the lowest number of listings that we've had in Vancouver in the last five years. It's not since December of 2017 (2,180) that we've had so few options...

Here's your update for the final week of 2021 in Vancouver real estate.

Unsurprisingly, this was a VERY quiet week. Traditionally, the week between Christmas and New Year's Day is the sleepiest of the year...and this week was no different.

There were just 48 sales in the last week. That's a low for the year, by FAR. The NEXT lowest number was 105 in Week 1 of the year.

At the same time there were just 37 new listings. Again, this is a low for the year...but a less dramatic one. The NEXT lowest number was 45, also in Week 1.

Total active listings dropped to 2,118. That's another low for the year, over 16% below the 2,465 low reached LAST week.

The result of all this inactivity is that we find ourselves in a BUYER'S MARKET for the first time in 2021 with 11.03 MOI (shooting up from 3.95).

Is this the beginning of a collapse in our market? Absolutley NOT. This is just a regular seasonal pattern. The most extreme one that we usually see.

No market could have been considered "hot" last week,...

The Vancouver real estate market is definitely seeing a holiday effect. Activity levels were subdued across the board.

Sales dipped slightly to 192 from 200.

New listings also fell to 187 (from 213). That's the first ime we've fallen below 200 new listings since the same time LAST year.

Active listings dropped to 2,651...the lowest level the city has seen since Week 2.

Despite this drop in activity we remain in Seller's Market with 3.45 MOI. In fact, we moved even further into a Seller's Market from 3.52 MOI the week before.

The hottest sub-markets remain East Van townhouses and condos. This week it's EV townhouses retaking the lead with 1.74 MOI on the back of an increase in sales from 14 to 18.

The weakest sub-market continues to be Westside houses with 5.91 MOI. However, that's a massive improvement over the 8.26 MOI from the previous week. In fact, it moves Westside houses into a balanced market for the first time in 2 months.

The next two weeks should see the market activity fall even...

We continue to see higher activity levels than are typical for this time of year...BUT, activity is falling overall.

Sales clung to the 200-level this week, dropping from 226 the week before. We haven't seen the weekly sales number drop below the 200-level since the fall market began (1st week of September).

New listings edged slightly higher from 207 to 213. I'd call that relatively flat over the week...and well below the high of 492 we hit in the second week of September.

As a result, total active listings dropped for the 4th week in a row to 2,817 (from 2,878). That's the lowest number of listings we've had since Week 10 (Feb 28 - Mar 6).

As we've seen for most of this year, demand is still outpacing supply as we have just 3.52 months-of-inventory. That's solidly seller's market.

The hottest sub-market is once again East Van condos with 1.87 MOI. East Van townhouses (2.59 MOI) and Westside condos (2.6 MOI) weren't too far behind.

It's Westside houses that are the weakest sub-market with...

The story continues to be heightened demand and lower supply...but really, it's all about the supply.

There were just 2,878 active listings last week. That's a significant drop from 3,064 the week before. The last time listings were this low was way back in Week 10 in the first week of March.

New listings came in at just 207. That's the lowest number we've seen in 2021 since Week 1!

Meanwhile, sales dropped to 226 (from 269). Yes, sales dropped but they remain over the 200 bar.

Overall, our market remains in a strong seller's market with just 3.18 months of inventory.

The hottest sub-market this week was East Vancouver apartments. EV condos regained the title off of townhouses/duplexes that slipped in sales this week.

...and it wasn't even close. Condos in East Van were white-hot with just 1.46 MOI. The runner-up was Westside condos with 2.78 MOI.

In fact, every sub-market remained in a seller's market except for one.

It's no surprise...can you guess which one?

Westside houses continue to...

The story this week returns to a recurring theme; a lack of inventory.

Sales rose sharply to 269 (from 224). We'd been flirting with numbers at the lower end of the 200s. This is just the second time we've had sales this high in the last 3 months.

New listings fel to 253 (from 307). That's the lowest number of new listings we've had in the last 3 months...and it's likely a number that we'll see continue to drop in the coming weeks as the holidays approach.

Total active listings fell to 3,064 (from 3,175). That's the lowest we've had supply since way back in mid-March of this year.

With demand rising, and suppply dropping we movd further into a seller's market. Months-of-inventory dropped to 2.85 from 3.54.

East Vancouver remains the hot-point of our market. This week, it was led by East Van townhouses with just 1.54 MOI. Followed closely by EV condos (2.1 MOI) and EV houses (2.51 MOI).

The sharpest move was made downtown. The downtown condo market wasn't the strongest market, but it did...

For the most part, the last week was a week of stability. Little changed from the previous week.

Sales edged higher to 224 (from 218). New listings jumped to 307 (from 279)...but total active listings fell slightly to 3,175 from 3,206.

Overall, the market tightened up a little bit. Moving slightly further into a seller's market with 3.54 MOI (from 3.68).

The hottest sub-market changed hands in the last week. East Van townhouses recaptured that title with a big uptick in sales (21 from 11) and 1.89 MOI. The only other sub-market with a MOI below 3 was East Van condos with 2.12.

East Van houses had the sharpest improvement. Sales more than duoubled from 15 to 32 pushing the MOI down to 3.09. As suspected, last week's numbers were just anomaly for this sub-markets it returned to it's regular torrid pace.

There was no change to the weakest sub-market. Westside houses continue to dominate that space. This week sales fell slightly to 23 (from 25) with a 6.89 MOI...and the only buyer's market in...