Greater Vancouver real estate’s predicted Spring boom currently looks like a bust. Greater Vancouver Realtors, the new name for REBGV, reported home prices moved minimally in May. What really stood out was a collapse in sales and a surge in inventory, an unusual sight at this time of year. How unusual? Outside of 2020, one needs to go back more than a decade to find such a weak demand balance for the month.
Greater Vancouver Real Estate Prices Still Near Record Highs
The price of a benchmark, or typical home, across Greater Vancouver.
Source: CREA; Greater Vancouver Realtors; Better Dwelling.
Greater Vancouver home prices are moving higher, though at a snail’s pace. The price of a typical home climbed 0.5% to $1.21 million in May, about 2.3% higher than last year. Last month marked the fourth consecutive monthly gain for the benchmark, though the market appears to be losing a little steam.
Vancouver Real Estate Price Growth Is Slowing
The 12-month change to Greater Vancouver’s benchmark home price, in percentage points.
Source: CREA; Greater Vancouver Realtors; Better Dwelling.
The 12-month trend is already pulling back after only remaining positive for a few months. Annual growth at 2.3% is the lowest rate since August 2023. The growth rate peaked in March this year, but prior to 2020, it was more typical to see a seasonal slowdown much later in the year.
Great Vancouver Home Sales Fall, Inventory Surges 46% Higher
Greater Vancouver buyers didn’t show up last month, but a whole lot of sellers did. Existing home sales fell 19.9% from last year to just 2,700 in May. New listings climbed 12.6% to 6,400 homes over the same period. Falling sales and more sellers led to an unusually weak demand balance for this time of year.
Greater Vancouver Real Estate Demand Had One The Weakest Mays On Record
The sales to new listings ratio (SNLR) for Greater Vancouver real estate for the month of May.
Source: CREA; Greater Vancouver Realtors; Better Dwelling.
The sales-to-new listings ratio (SNLR) is the industry’s preferred measure of demand. It has trimmed 17.4 points since last year, falling to just 42.9% in May. That placed it just above the 40% threshold for a buyer’s market, where prices are expected to fall. It’s an unusually low ratio for May—excluding 2020, one has to go all the way back to 2012 to find one with a lower ratio.
Weakening demand is helping to bolster the remaining inventory. Active listings reached 13,600 units, up 46.3% from last year. The board notes that this was 19.9% higher than the 10-year seasonal average.
Fewer sales and higher inventory are the general takeaways from virtually all of the data. This trend has been observed across Canada, with experts attributing weak sales to elevated interest rates. Most are calling for higher sales as interest rates pull back, though rates aren’t seen falling nearly as much as would be required to restore any meaningful improvements to affordability in the near term.
Breakout condos vs detached. I have a sneaking suspicion the thing that bolstered prices was the broad upzoning that increased land values for detached homes that previously peaked in 2017.
The premium to get stabbed by a junkie on the way to work is quite high these days. Feel free to stop bringing this stuff to Alberta.
World Cup Bubble, baby! I mean World Class. World Class…
Why waste your money in BC?
See Youtube for brand new houses in Texas, Florida Arizona etc. under 400K
Yeah I go to FL every spring to see spring training baseball and I have been thinking about buying for awhile, but when you see what you get for $400K USD, and do the exchange, you can’t get much. Try $600K +++ USD. The best time to do that was ’09-’10. Not sure about Texas, but Arizona is a desert: coolish nights and uncomfortably hot sunny days, no humidity. There is no “waste of money” in real estate if you buy the right location. Buying a sub-$400K house in southern US in today’s market likely means you bought the wrong house in the wrong location, you will have to renovate, and then you might not get a good return on your investment when you go to sell because we are in a “top of the market cycle” right now. I think a used, well-maintained motorhome is a better investment today than many houses..!
Canadians whatever a Canadian is have a weird obsession with housing like they will disappear if you don’t buy one and put yourself in massive amounts of debt for 30 years
Your assuming someone has a mortgage. 1/3 of Canadian homeowners do not have one. During 2009 – 2020 the rule of “buy 7 to pay for #8” worked for many who bought a home and re-sold every 18-24 months in prime markets. No capital gains tax, and enough appreciation to basically pay for the 8th house and be free and clear of payments. You could even port your CMHC premiums until you hit 20% equity. Home ownership (note: ownership, as in “paid off”) is still one of the best investments for a secure retirement anyone can have. Or you can rent and pay off some investor’s massive amount of debt.
Bank of Canada NEEDS to lower rates to support and rescue housing. House prices are the main driver of Canada’s economy and must be supported!
The real estate spectrum is changing, interest rates will not be a factor, concerns of world financial instability, wars … it is well overdue, ridiculous prices don’t continue forever