Vancouver Real Estate Market Update
As the holidays near, the market begins it’s usual hibernation phase. House crazy Vancouverites forget about the never ending housing mania for a couple weeks and turn to rum and eggnog. However, some buyers and sellers are still out there pulling triggers despite the recent uneasiness . In this post I’ll outline the first 15 days of December and analyze the numbers heading into the New Year. Sales have virtually been cut in half year over year. The market shows little signs of a sudden rebound but perhaps to be expected in the slow winter months. Let’s take a look.
Detached Market
Through the first 15 days of December year over year detached sales are down 41% in Vancouver East, 54% in Vancouver West, 61% in Richmond, 67% in Burnaby, 51% in REBGV, 50% in Fraser Valley. These are astonishing numbers, perhaps a Christmas miracle for wishful buyers. As I have mentioned , in many areas prices have already corrected 15% or more. Another interesting stat to pull from the detached side is the average and median sales price year over year. [table id=21 /] As per the table, the average and median sales price for a detached home in REBGV is virtually the same as 2015. Likely a telltale sign of what’s to come in the Fraser Valley.
Condo Market
The condo market remains quite steady, but certainly slowing down. The market is definitely not what it was a year ago. Condo sales year over year are down 13% in Vancouver East, 24% in Vancouver West, 48% in Burnaby, 21% in REBGV. Condo sales are up slightly by 4% in Richmond, and 17% in the Fraser Valley. [table id=22 /] Condo prices, although having cooled in recent months, are still doing well on a year over year basis.
Townhouse Market
The townhouse market appears to be correcting more than the condo market but not nearly to the extent the detached market is. Townhouse sales year over year for Dec.1-15 are down 46% in REBGV and just 6% in the Fraser Valley. I have omitted the other sub areas as there too few sales in a 15 day time period to draw a reasonable conclusion. [table id=23 /] As you can see in the table, the average townhouse is still up 16% in REBGV and 29% in the Fraser Valley.
Summary
It’s more of the same so far this month. The detached market continues to remain slow, with the the townhouse and then condo markets also slowing considerably. Don’t expect to see any further changes over the holidays.
