MLS Benchmark Jumps 3% Month Over Month in Vancouver
The latest June data has been released and If you haven’t already read my Vancouver Real Estate Detached Report June 2017 or the Vancouver Condo Report June 2017 some of these numbers may surprise you. The MLS Benchmark price for Vancouver jumped nearly 3% month over month to $1,233,200. Full disclosure, this includes all three market segments (detached, condo, and townhouse).
For those who might be mystified by this price acceleration it’s important to also factor in real time price movements, which I find are best noted using the average sales price. As you will see below, the average sales price paints a slightly different picture.
The average sales price indicates prices actually fell month over month, and have been treading water for the past year. The average sales price is up 0.3% year over year. Now this is not to say the MLS benchmark is not accurate, it just tends to lag, and does not show larger price fluctuations in a more volatile market. So how does one interpret this all? Here’s my take. The detached market appears to have flatlined, according to the average sales price is actually down 8% year over year (benchmark suggests prices are up 2%). All the price acceleration appears to be coming from the condo market, where the average sales price and the benchmark are showing a 14% increase year over year. Not to mention condos now make up a whopping 65% of all Vancouver home sales.
