Home Sales Rise 37% in Vancouver's Sellers' Market: REBGV

http://www.rew.ca/news/home-sales-rise-37-in-vancouver-s-sellers-market-rebgv-1.1873771?utm_source=Business%20Information%20Group&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Consumer-Newsletter-May%208%202015

 

Home Sales Rise 37% in Vancouver's Sellers' Market: REBGV

Total listings plummet nearly 20 per cent as demand heightens, pushing prices up 8.5 per cent in April, reports real estate board

Real estate demand is now far outpacing supply in spring’s hot market, as sales rose 37 per cent and listings fell nearly 20 per cent year over year in April, according to Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) figures released May 4.

April home sales in Greater Vancouver were also 2.9 per cent above the high figures seen the previous month and 29.3 per cent above the region’s 10-year average.

Prices were also significantly up yet again, with the benchmark price of a Greater Vancouver home rising to $673,000, an 8.5 per cent increase compared with April 2014.

Townhomes continue to be the property type with the highest sales growth, although detached properties outstrip other homes in terms of price increases.

 

Sales and Listings

Greater Vancouver home sales totalled 4,179 in April, a 37 per cent increase compared to the 3,050 sales recorded in April 2014, and a 2.9 per cent increase compared with the 4,060 sales in March 2015.

Last month’s sales were 29.3 per cent above the 10-year sales average for the month.

Broken down by housing type, single-family detached home sales in April reached 1,815, an increase of 35.9 per cent from the 1,336 detached sales in April 2014.

Sales of townhouses and other attached properties rose even more, with the 785 transactions representing an increase of 44.8 per cent compared with the 542 sales in April 2014.

Condo sales totalled 1,579, a 34.7 per cent rise over the 1,172 sales in April 2014, although this was a 2.9 per cent drop over March's figures.

New listings totalled 5,897 in April, a 0.9 per cent decrease compared with the 5,950 new listings in April 2014 and down 1.2 per cent from March 2015.

The total number of listings in April was 12,436, a 19.8 per cent decline compared with April 2014 and a meagre 0.5 per cent increase compared with last month.

Greater Vancouver’s sales-to-active-listings ratio in April was 33.6 per cent. This is the highest that this ratio has been in the region since June 2007.

What's Up, What's Down - At a Glance

	Apr/Mar 15	Apr 15/14
Overall Sales	+2.9%	+37%
- Detached	+6.1%	+35.9%
- Attached	+8.7%	+44.8%
- Apartment	-2.9%	+34.7%
New Listings	-1.2%	-0.9%
Current Listings	+0.5%	-19.8%

 

“The supply of homes for sale today in the region is not meeting the demand we’re seeing from home buyers. This is putting upward pressure on prices, particularly in the detached home market.”

Benchmark Prices (MLS® Home Price Index)

Prices for detached properties in Metro Vancouver continued to see the largest growth, and increased 12.5 per cent compared with April 2014 to $1,078,900.

Townhouse and other attached property prices increased 5.7 per cent between April 2014 and 2015 to $493,300.

The benchmark price of a Greater Vancouver condo continued to rise at a more moderate rate, increasing 4.4 per cent year over year to $394,200.

The composite benchmark prices by housing type are:

Greater Vancouver MLS® Benchmark Prices % Change

	Apr 2015	Apr/Mar 15	Apr 15/14
Detached	$1,078,900	+2.5%	+12.5%
Townhome	$493,300	+1.7%	+5.7%
Apartment	$394,200	+1.0%	+4.4%

Home prices vary widely throughout the REBGV region. To get a good idea of home prices in a specific location, check the detailed MLS Home Price Index in the REBGV full statistics package.

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• The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver covers Whistler, Sunshine Coast, Squamish, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Richmond, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, and South Delta.
• The board covers only homes being resold through the Multiple Listing Service, and does not record sales of newly built homes unless they are listed with the MLS, so the house prices in the Home Price Index don't reflect all of the residential real estate sold in the area.

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