Vancouver real estate just had one of the worst months in recent times. Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) show July sales haven’t been this low in almost two decades. To further complicate the issue, inventory is swelling back to normal levels. The combination of lower sales and higher inventory typically bring prices lower. Yes, even in Vancouver.
Greater Vancouver Real Estate Prices Hit Slowest Growth Since 2015
The price of “typical” home across Greater Vancouver is still higher than last year, but hit a speed bump. REBGV reported a benchmark price of $1,087,500 in July, down 0.6% from the month before. The decrease brings the annual price change to a 6.7% increase, which is still very high. The deceleration of this growth is probably what you want to pay attention to though.
Greater Vancouver Composite Benchmark Price
The price of a typical home across Greater Vancouver, in Canadian dollars.
Source: REBGV, Better Dwelling.
Price gains are rapidly decelerating across Greater Vancouver. July was the fifth consecutive month annual price gains have tapered. It’s also the lowest pace of growth since February 2015, right before prices started to pop higher. Price growth is heading below median levels, something Canada’s frothiest market hasn’t seen in a while.
Greater Vancouver Composite Benchmark Price Change
The annual percent change of a typical home across Greater Vancouver.
Source: REBGV, Better Dwelling.
Greater Vancouver Real Estate Sales Hit 18 Year Low
Greater Vancouver real estate sales dropped to a new low. REBGV reported 2,070 sales in July, down 30.1% compared to last year. If that looks slow, that’s because it is. This was the worst July for sales since 2000. The drop in sales led to more inventory building up across most REBGV areas.
Greater Vancouver Composite Sales Vs. Listings
The number of homes sold vs total inventory in Greater Vancouver.
Source: REBGV, Better Dwelling.
Greater Vancouver Inventory Rises Over 32%
Less new homes were listed for sale across Greater Vancouver. REBGV reported 4,770 new listings in July, up 1.6% from the month before. This represents a 9.2% decrease compared to the same month last year. Sales dropped much faster than new listings, which helps to push inventory higher.
Vancouver inventory reached a new multi-month high. REBGV reported 12,137 active listings in July, up 32% from last year. Inventory levels are now at the highest levels since June 2015, while sales are not. This led the sales-to-active listings ratio to fall to 17.1%, the lowest level we’ve seen since January 2014. Yup, this July is so slow, it has a similar sales ratio to a January. Typically, when this number drops below 12%, we see rapid price drops in any market.
Vancouver real estate prices have increased for five years. The slowing of price growth shouldn’t be a surprise, and even at this level it’s outpacing most markets. That said, July sales were the worst in nearly two decades, and inventory is at a multi-year high. All indicators point towards further deceleration of price growth, possibly even negative growth.
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A bubble lasts not but two years, but the debt is forever.
Prices are already tumbling, the benchmark is just slow to capture the drop. This is the pop we’ve been waiting for.
You clowns keep saying this, but only Vancouver West has seen prices decline. The rest of REBGV is still positive for the time being.
Maybe. The Vancouver market seems to keep defying all odds and keeps bouncing back. If this slow down lasts till the Spring market then I might start to feel like a correction is starting to take hold. There’s pretty strong thinking entrenched among locals here that Vancouver is special and in the long term prices will just go back up again. They have been proved right for around 20 years, so I can’t blame them for thinking it really. The only way that will change is if people are forced to sell. IMO the only reason we are seeing a slowdown is because the banks are refusing to lend and interest rates are up. People are being told “No, I won’t lend you that much.” essentially. I think there’s demand still there on the sidelines. The physc hasn’t changed just yet. There is very little fear of losing everything in the quest of a home here. Still lots of fear of never being able to buy one though. Although I do sense a shift in sentiment and more and more people I know are looking to other places with better costs of living. It would be nice if Vancouver’s housing market started to come back to Earth though.
Communist Eby’s school tax is destroying the wealth in the province.
How does a school tax that impacts homes over $3 million, impact the majority of homes that are lower priced?
Anyone who might have bought a home at 3M+ might look at buying multiple lower priced units instead to avoid the extra tax.
Yeah, there’s tons of rich people living in 3 condos consecutively to avoid the tax.
yeah, need more regulation to make the price down, how can a normal Canadian family afford a house over 600k? the price here is still insane. I just saw a house in Surrey which is listed as 1.4m. With the current stress test, nobody except rich people can buy it, but who go to Surrey to buy a 1.4m house?
“Communist Eby” doesn’t have much of a ring to it. You should work on that. May I propose “Evil Eby”? It doesn’t have the same economic or political bite to it, but at least it alliterates! “Eastern Block Eby” achieves both, but it’s probably beyond the intellectual capacity of trolls such as yourself.