One month isn’t a trend, but six? Now we’re starting to see where prices are heading. The latest numbers from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) show that the benchmark price of detached homes declined for the sixth month in a row. January 2017 also saw detached inventory building, and sales decline.
Prices Dropped
The price for homes across the Greater Vancouver Region (GVR) declined just slightly. Now $1,474,800 will buy you a benchmark home, which is a 0.6% decline from December. While that sounds like bad news for homeowners, prices are still 15.84% higher than the same time last year. Price declines aren’t great, but 15% is still higher than premium real estate markets like Los Angeles.
REBGV regions surrounding Vancouver were a little more mixed. Sunshine Coast saw the greatest gains, with prices increasing 2% from the month prior. The price of a detached benchmark home in Sunshine Coast is now $502,900 – a 26% increase from the same time last year. On the flip side, Tsawwassen saw the greatest single-month decrease. The price of a detached home dropped 1.9% to $1,162,400. At a 26% increase from the same time last year, the decline doesn’t exactly scream “crash” however.
Vancouver Detached Prices
Inventory Is Building
Inventory of detached homes have been building. January 2017 saw 1,915 detached listings, a minor decline of 0.72% from the same time last year. This is a 273% increase from December. Yes, inventory rises in January from December, but January 2016 only saw a 132% increase from the month prior – that’s less than half. This is the trend to watch in my opinion.
Sales Declined
While listings built at a faster rate, sales experienced further declines. The REBGV logged 444 single family detached sales, a 57.6% decrease from the same time last year. This also represented an 18% decline from the month prior. A month over month decline is expected in January, but this is more than double the 7.76% decline observed the same time last year.
Vancouver Detached Sales
Not exactly a terrible report, but there are a few things to keep an eye on if you’re looking at buying a detached home. New listings grew at a slower pace than the same time last year, but buyers didn’t show up in the same quantity this time around. Only time will tell if they’re waiting to see prices come down a little further before jumping in, or if the buyers have all dried up for now.
Like this post? Support our work by liking us on Facebook. Bet you thought we were going to ask for money, didn’t you?
Photo: Ruth Hartnup.
