Dear Stuart,

In September, 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 19%, while apartments increased by 15%, and townhomes increased by 13%.

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 37%, apartments decreased by 29%, and townhomes decreased by 6%.

As for the median home prices, In September, detached home prices are down 19% from their peak last month. Apartment prices decreased by 6.6% from their peak in January 2018, and attached home prices declined by 6.2% from their peak in February 2022.

In September, residential property sales in the Greater Vancouver region showed a significant increase of 13.2%, reaching 1,926 sales compared to 1,701 sales in September 2022. However, this is still 26.3% below the 10-year September sales average.

The benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver rose by 4.4% from September 2022, reaching $1,203,300, and showing a 0.4% increase from the previous month.

The number of properties currently available for sale on the MLS system in Metro Vancouver increased by 9.2% compared to September 2022, to a total of 11,382 listings. This figure is still 6.2% below the 10-year seasonal average of 12,136 listings.

Despite the incremental improvements in supply & prices compared to last year the current market is still below the 10-year averages.

Another factor affecting buyer confidence is that we are further into the mortgage renewal cycle and owners who purchased with more favourable rates are now coming into renewals at much higher rates. Some of those buyers are able to access funds from other sources to pay down their mortgages but some may not be so fortunate. The question is whether any of those will be forced to sell and will that have an effect on our local market?

Andrew Lis, REBGV's director of economics and data analytics, suggests that as the fall approaches, sellers are starting to become more interested in listing their homes. This increase in supply coupled with declining sales is creating a more balanced market. 

I hope that is true.

Happy Thanksgiving! “🍁🧶🧣🍂”

Looking around the world, we have much to be grateful for.

Stay safe and healthy.

Best regards,

Stuart

In September, the supply of Westside detached homes was relatively unchanged compared to August, with a total of 563 v. 568 homes available. However, this represents a decrease of 15% compared to September 2022 when there were 663 homes on the market.

Sales of Westside detached homes in September were down from August, with 55 homes sold. Sales were 8% higher compared to September 2022. Despite the improvement, the number of sales remains 37% lower than the ten-year average of 88 sales.

The Months of Supply (MOS) in September increased 21% from the previous month, with a current MOS of 10.2 compared to 8.5 in August. This represents a 21% decrease from September 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 September decreased 15.4% and 19% from last month's peak, with the average price at $4.02 million and the median price at $3.43 million. Current prices are down 11.5% on average and 11% 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 $15 million, which spent 51 days on the market before selling. The lowest price for a detached home was $2.039 million, selling after only 11 days on the market. Of the 55 sales, 19 received the asking price or more, while 36 homes sold below the asking price.

In September, the supply of Westside apartments increased by 9.7% compared to August, with a total of 1,591 apartments available for sale. This number is up by 9.7% from September 2022.

Demand for Westside apartments decreased by 25.6% in September, with 238 sales compared to 320 sales in August. Despite the decline, the number of sales in September showed a 11.2% increase from the same month last year, which had 214 sales. Nonetheless, apartment sales are still down 29% from the ten-year average of 334 sales.

The Months of Supply (MOS) in September increased by 48% compared to August, reaching 6.7. This is a slight decrease (1.3%) than the MOS of 6.8 in September 2022. A MOS of 3.6 suggests a relatively balanced market for apartments.

Regarding prices, the average price in September increased by 2.6% from August, with the average price at $1,025,431 compared to $999,857. It was also up by 7% from September 2022. The median price decreased 1.1% from August at $821,500, and is up 1.5% from September 2022. However, both average and median prices are down from their respective peaks, with average prices down by 14.5% from the peak of $1,199,000 and median prices down 6.6% from the peak in January 2018.

In September, the supply of Westside townhouses increased by 4.8% compared to August, with a total of 262 townhouses available for sale, and it showed a 4.8% increase from September 2022, which had 250 townhouses on the market.

The demand for townhouses in September remained unchanged, with 45 sales. The number of sales in September increased by 32% from the same month last year, which saw 34 sales. Attached home sales are slightly below the ten-year average of 48 sales.

With the increase in supply and flat demand, the current Months of Supply (MOS) for townhouses increased by 4.8%, reaching 5.8. This is 21% lower than the MOS of 7.4 in September 2022.

The average price of townhouses in September was $1.6 million, showing a 7.4% decrease from July. It decreased by 1.2% from August 2022, when the average price was $1.63 million. The median price in September was $1.75 million, indicating an 8.4% increase from August ($1.614 million), and an 8.6% increase from September 2022. Both average and median prices for townhouses are down from their respective peaks. The average price has decreased by 5.6% from the peak of $1.854 million in November 2021, and the median price is down 6.2% from the peak of $1.799 million in February 2022.