Vancouver home sales slump again to 43% below average

REBGV stats show sales slump

Steve Randall
other

Home sales in the Metro Vancouver market continue their downward trend according to the latest stats.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says that there were 1,829 sales in April, up 5.9% from March but 29.1% below the April 2018 figure and 43.1% below the 10-year average.

“Government policy continues to hinder home sale activity. The federal government’s mortgage stress test has reduced buyers’ purchasing power by about 20 per cent, which is causing people at the entry-level side of the market to struggle to secure financing,” Ashley Smith, REBGV president said. “Supressing housing activity through government policy not only reduces home sales, it harms the job market, economic growth and creates pent-up demand.”

Inventory remains elevated with 14,357 homes available to buy on the MLS, a 46.2% increase compared to April 2018 (9,822) and a 12.4% cent increase compared to March 2019 (12,774).

New listings in April totaled 5,742, down 1.3% year-over-year but up 16% from March 2019.

“There are more homes for sale in our market today than we’ve seen since October 2014. This trend is more about reduced demand than increased supply,” Smith said. “The number of new listings coming on the market each month are consistent with our long-term averages. It’s the reduced sales activity that’s allowing listings to accumulate.”

Sales, prices by property type

• Detached home sales totalled 586 in April 2019, a 27.4% decrease from the 807 detached sales in April 2018. The benchmark price for a detached home is $1,425,200. This represents an 11.1% decrease from April 2018, a 0.8% decrease compared to March 2019.
• Apartment home sales totalled 885 in April 2019, a 32.3% decrease compared to the 1,308 sales in April 2018. The benchmark price of an apartment is $656,900 in the region. This represents a 6.9% decrease from April 2018 and is unchanged from March 2019.
• Attached home sales totalled 358 in April 2019, a 22.8% decrease compared to the 464 sales in April 2018. The benchmark price of an attached home is $783,300. This represents a 7.5% decrease from April 2018 and is unchanged from March 2019.

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