By ThinkPol Staff

Home sales slumped 30 percent last month in Metro Vancouver as BC budget measures aimed at making housing affordable began to cool down the region’s once red hot real estate market.

Residential home sales in the region totalled 2,517 in March 2018, a 30 percent decrease from the 3,579 sales recorded in March 2017 and 23 per cent below the 10-year March sales average, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports .

“We saw less demand from buyers and fewer homes listed for sale in our region in the first quarter of the year,” Phil Moore, the newly-minted REBGV president said. “High prices, new tax announcements, rising interest rates, and stricter mortgage requirements are among the factors affecting home buyer and seller activity today.”

The housing slump was not limited to one segment of the market.

Sales of detached properties in March 2018 decreased by 37 percent year-over-year to 722, while the sales of apartment properties declined by 27 percent to 1,349.

Attached property sales in March 2018 totalled 446, a decrease of 24.1 per cent compared to March 2017.

The realtors board reports that the MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver rose 16.1 percent year over year to $1,084,000.

“Even with lower demand, upward pressure on prices will continue as long as the supply of homes for sale remains low,” Moore said. “Last month was the quietest March for new home listings since 2009 and the total inventory, particularly in the condo and townhome segments, of homes for sale remains well below historical norms.”

But prices in the most expensive segment in the region’s most expensive neighbourhood is already heading south.

The benchmark price for single family homes in Vancouver Westside showed a 0.4 percent drop compared to March 2017.