Dear Stuart,

In July, the sales and listings activity for detached homes on the Westside remained below the long-term averages. Compared to the 10-year average, the supply of detached homes decreased by 15%, while apartments increased by 10%, and townhomes increased by 15%.

Similarly, the demand for properties on the Westside also saw a decline when compared to the 10-year average. The demand for detached homes decreased by 24%, apartments decreased by 15%, and townhomes decreased by 22%.

As for the median home prices, there have been declines across all property types. In July, detached home prices were down by 8% from their peak in October 2017. Apartment prices decreased by 2.5% from their peak in January 2018, and attached home prices declined by 5.9% from their peak in February 2022.

In July, residential property sales in the Greater Vancouver region showed a significant increase of 28.9%, reaching 2,455 sales compared to 1,904 sales in July 2022. However, this is still 15.6% below the 10-year July sales average.

The benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver rose by 0.5% from July 2022, reaching $1,210,700, and showing a 0.6% increase from the previous month.

The number of properties currently available for sale on the MLS system in Metro Vancouver decreased by 4% compared to July 2022, with a total of 10,301 listings. This figure is 14.4% below the 10-year seasonal average of 12,039 listings.

The slight increases in supply and prices compared to last year are partly due to the poor market conditions at that time when the Bank of Canada announced a large 1% rate increase, which had a cooling effect on the market. Despite these incremental improvements, the current market is still below the 10-year averages.

Presently, there are the highest interest rates in 10 years. However, the low inventory levels are creating competitive conditions, leading to price increases as demand remains higher than supply. Andrew Lis, REBGV's director of economics and data analytics, suggests that below-average sales volume and slow listing activity indicate that some sellers are waiting for more favorable market conditions, even though prices have already risen approximately 6%, surpassing the projected 2% increase for the year-end.

The continued increase in prices can be attributed to a higher number of buyers compared to sellers in the market, which has kept the supply of resale homes relatively low. Although sales activity typically peaks in April, this year saw increased activity in May, approaching historical averages, despite mortgage rates and slow listing activity.



As expected, sales declined in June and July due to the summer season and the impact of the interest rate increase, leading to a slowdown in the market. With more than a year since the rates began to rise, some sellers are now facing mortgage renewals and increased mortgage payments, prompting them to sell their homes.

Have a great rest of the summer! ☀️🌊🍉🌴⛱️🍦

Stay safe and healthy.

Best regards,

Stuart

In July, the supply of Westside detached homes increased by 1.7% compared to June, with a total of 585 homes available. However, this represents a decrease of 13.8% compared to July 2022 when there were 679 homes on the market.

Sales of Westside detached homes in July showed a 5% increase from June, with 68 homes sold. This also indicates a substantial 45% increase compared to July 2022. Despite the improvement, the number of sales remains 24% lower than the ten-year average of 89 sales.

The Months of Supply (MOS) in July decreased by 3% from the previous month, with a current MOS of 8.6 compared to 8.5 in June. This represents a significant 40% decrease from July 2022. A balanced market, where prices tend to remain relatively stable, is typically considered to have a MOS between 7 to 10.

In terms of pricing, the average and median detached home prices in July remained unchanged from June, with the average price at $4.35 million and the median price at $3.5 million. However, current prices are down 4.1% on average and 8.8% on median from their peaks in October 2017 and July 2017, respectively.



The highest sale price for a Westside detached home in July was $15.5 million, which spent 434 days on the market before selling. In contrast, the lowest price for a detached home was $2.1 million, selling after only 7 days on the market. Of the 68 sales, 21 received the asking price or more, while 47 homes sold below the asking price.

In July, the supply of Westside apartments increased by 6.2% compared to June, with a total of 1,491 apartments available for sale. However, this number remained unchanged from July 2022.

Demand for Westside apartments decreased by 16% in July, with 326 sales compared to 390 sales in June. Despite the decline, the number of sales in July 2022 showed a 10% increase from the same month last year, which had 295 sales. Nonetheless, apartment sales are still down 15% from the ten-year average of 382 sales.



The Months of Supply (MOS) in June increased by 22% compared to May, reaching 3.6. However, this is still 25% lower than the MOS of 4.8 in June 2022. A MOS of 3.6 suggests a relatively balanced market for apartments.



Regarding pricing, the average price in July decreased by 2% from June 2023, with the average price at $1,013,000 compared to $1,036,000. It was also down by 2.4% from July 2022. On the other hand, the median price remained unchanged from June at $858,000, showing a 2.9% increase from July 2022. However, both average and median prices are down from their respective peaks, with average prices down by 15.5% from the peak of $1,199,000 and median prices down 2.5% from the peak in January 2018.

In July, the supply of Westside townhouses increased by 8.6% compared to June, with a total of 264 townhouses available for sale, and it showed a slight 1.1% increase from July 2022, which had 261 townhouses on the market.

However, the demand for townhouses in July decreased significantly, with 44 sales compared to 62 sales in June, representing a decline of 29%. Despite this, the number of sales in July 2022 increased by 57% from the same month last year, which saw 28 sales. Despite the recent increase, attached home sales are still below the ten-year average of 56 sales.

With the increase in supply and decrease in demand, the current Months of Supply (MOS) for townhouses rose by 53%, reaching 6. Nonetheless, this figure is 36% lower than the MOS of 9.3 in June 2022.

Regarding pricing, the average price of townhouses in July was $1.7 million, showing a 3% decrease from June. However, it increased by 7% from July 2022, when the average price was $1.62 million. On the other hand, the median price in July was $1.69 million, indicating an 8% decline from June ($1.84 million), but an 8% increase from July 2022. Despite the recent increase, both average and median prices for townhouses are down from their respective peaks. The average price has decreased by 6% from the peak of $1.854 million in November 2021, and the median price is down 5.9% from the peak of $1.799 million in February 2022.