More people are selling their homes in Metro Vancouver, according to new numbers

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A ‘lukewarm start’ to the year is how the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver is describing home sales so far in 2017.

The agency’s latest numbers show home sales in Metro Vancouver totalled 1,523 last month which is a nearly 40 per cent decrease from the 2,519 sales recorded in the previous January and an 11 per cent drop compared to December of 2016 when 1,714 homes were sold. Detached homes, the most expensive part of the market, were down 57.6 per cent while apartment-style condominiums were off by a much smaller 24.7 per cent.

“While we saw near record-breaking sales at this time last year, home buyers and sellers are more reluctant to engage so far in 2017,” points out REBGV President Dan Morrison. “New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Metro Vancouver totalled 4,140 in January 2017. This represents a 6.8 per cent decrease compared to the 4,442 homes listed in January 2016 and a 215.5 per cent increase compared to December 2016 when 1,312 properties were listed.”

The numbers also show that more people are putting their homes up for sale. The total number of homes up on the block is 7,238 which is a 9.1 per cent jump compared to January 2016 and an increase over December 2016.

“…Detached home prices declined 6.6 per cent since peaking in July while townhome and condominium prices have held steady. Conditions within the market vary depending on property type. The townhome and condominium markets are more active than the detached market at the moment,” explains Morrison. “As a result, detached home prices declined about 7 per cent since peaking in July while townhome and condominium prices held steady over this period.”

Last month’s benchmark price for single-detached properties was $1.47 million, while the index price for condos was $512,000 which was down three-tenths a point from July and four-tenths of a percentage point from December.