Heightened mortgage stress tests and provincial-enacted policies targeting foreign and speculative real estate continue to hammer Metro Vancouver’s housing market, with sales falling by the double-digit percentages and the number of unsold listings continuing to grow.

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Of course, some areas of the region have been less affected by unsold supply than others, and a new report for April 2018 by Zoocasa illustrates this.

The White Rock and South Surrey area have the highest level of inventory, with a timeline of 7.4 months required to sell off all available homes. Sales in this area have fallen by 24.3%, and active listings have risen by 32.1%, and such conditions have pulled the local benchmark price down by -6% to $967,800.

Other areas that topped the list for available inventory were North Surrey and North Delta at 5.8 and 5.4 months, respectively. In fact, North Surrey’s active listings skyrocketed by 65.7% to 905 at the end of April, while sales fell by 30%, with the average price down -3% to $774,000.

On the flip side, some areas in the region are still seeing a shortage in supply, which has helped offset price declines in these areas, despite drops in sales.

Port Moody has the least inventory in the region at 2.4 months, and it actually experienced a 5.5% uptick in sales, with prices declining by -7% to an average of $905,200.

As well, New Westminster saw its sales drop by -18% and active listings rise by 20%, bringing total inventory to 2.6 months, with prices falling -9% to $659,300.

But Maple Ridge actually bucked the trend with the number of available listings actually declining by -2.4% from last year to 2.6 months of inventory, with sales still down by 34.2%. A supply shortage has helped retain home values, which remained flat year-over-year at $748,600.

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