Dear Stuart,

In October, 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 9%, while apartments increased by 26%, and townhomes increased by 27%.

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 29%, apartments decreased by 33%, and townhomes decreased by 17%.

As for the median home prices, In October, detached home prices are down 20.6% from their peak in August 2023. Apartment prices decreased by 4% from their peak in January 2018, and attached home prices declined by 6.2% from their peak in February 2022.

In October, residential property sales in the Greater Vancouver region showed an increase of 3.7%, reaching 1,996 sales compared to 1,924 sales in October 2022. However, this is still 29.5% below the 10-year October sales average.

The benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver rose by 4.4% from October 2022, reaching $1,196,500, 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 increased by 12.9% compared to October 2022, to a total of 11,599 listings. This figure is still .6% above the 10-year seasonal average of 11,526 listings.

We have a supply of homes just .6% above the 10 year average and our demand is 29.5% below the 10 yer average so it is amazing that the prices are still as strong as they are and it leads me to refer to our market as defying gravity.

We are also further into the mortgage renewal cycle and many owners who purchased with favourable rates are now coming into renewals at much higher rates. For those owners unable to access funds from other sources to pay down their mortgages, the question is whether they will be forced to sell and what that will do to prices?

The fact that interest rates did not jump creates stability but the rates are still high and any increase will have a negative effect on sales and prices

Home of the Free, Because of the Brave

We will not forget 🌺

Stay safe and healthy.

Best regards,

Stuart

In October, the supply of Westside detached homes increased 7.3% compared to September, with a total of 604 v. 563 homes available. This is a slight increase of 1.2% compared to October 2022 when there were 597 homes on the market.

Sales of Westside detached homes in October were up from September, with 71 homes sold. Sales were relatively unchanged compared to October 2022 with 72 sales. Despite the improvement, the number of sales remains 29% lower than the ten-year average of 100 sales.

The Months of Supply (MOS) in October decreased 17% from the previous month, with a current MOS of 8.5 compared to 10.2 in September. This represents a 2.6% increase from October 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 October decreased 19.4% and 20.6% from August 2023's peak, with the average price at $3.822 million and the median price at $3.36 million. Current prices are down 15.7% on average and 12.7% on median from their previous peaks in October 2017 and July 2017, respectively.

The highest sale price for a Westside detached home in September was $17.7 million, which spent 413 days on the market before selling. The lowest price for a detached home was $1.990 million, selling after only 15 days on the market. Of the 71 sales, 15 received the asking price or more, while 56 homes sold below the asking price.

In October, the supply of Westside apartments increased by 7.4% compared to September, with a total of 1,708 apartments available for sale. This number is up by 16.2% from October 2022.

Demand for Westside apartments decreased by 2.9% in October, with 231 sales compared to 238 sales in September. The number of sales in October showed a 2.1% decrease from the same month last year, which had 236 sales. Apartment sales are down 33% from the ten-year average of 346 sales.

The Months of Supply (MOS) in October increased by 10.6% compared to September, reaching 7.4. This is an increase of 16.2% from the MOS of 6.2 in October 2022. 

Regarding prices, the average price in October are unchanged from September, with the average price at $1.026 million. It was also down by 1.3% from October 2022. The median price increased 2.8% from September at $844.8 thousand and is up 3% from October 2022. However, both average and median prices are down from their respective peaks, with average prices down by 14.4% from the peak of $1,199,000 and median prices down 4% from the peak in January 2018.

In October, the supply of Westside townhouses increased by 12.2% compared to September, with a total of 294 townhouses available for sale, and it showed a 4.6% increase from October 2022, which had 281 townhouses on the market.

The demand for townhouses in October increased slightly, with 46 sales. The number of sales in October increased by 39.4% from the same month last year, which saw 33 sales. Attached home sales are 17% below the ten-year average of 55 sales.

With the increase in supply and flat demand, the current Months of Supply (MOS) for townhouses increased by 9.8%, reaching 6.4. This is 25% lower than the MOS of 8.5 in October 2022.

The average price of townhouses in October was $1.514 million, showing a 13.4% decrease from September. It decreased by 2.4% from September 2022, when the average price was $1.551 million. The median price in October was $1.512 million, indicating an 10.4% decrease from September ($1.688 million), and a 2.5% increase from October 2022. Both average and median prices for townhouses are down from their respective peaks. The average price has decreased by 18.3% from the peak of $1.854 million in November 2021, and the median price is down 15.9% from the peak of $1.799 million in February 2022.