Cost of housing in Metro Vancouver sees a big drop since February

Interest rate hikes are continuing to impact housing prices across the country, and in Metro Vancouver, they’re continuing to fall.

The median home price is down a whopping 13.5% in Metro Vancouver since February. In certain parts of the area, they’re down even further.

In Delta, for example, the median home price is down 28.3%, while in Surrey, the median home price has dropped 23.4%.

In Vancouver, the median house price actually dropped below $1 million.

HouseSigma — an AI-powered real estate platform — released its June analysis on housing in the region, and the data looks at all property types. The numbers aren’t in favour of sellers.

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When it comes to this report, median means that an equal number of units sold above and below the median price.

Hao Li, a broker with HouseSigma, points to interest rates being a primary reason behind the median sell prices dropping.

HouseSigma

“Median prices have been dropping consistently and considerably since the Bank of Canada started hiking interest rates earlier this year,” said Li.

He points out that buyers have an advantage in the BC housing market.

“We’re in a market where buyers are feeling emboldened,” said Li. “More and more buyers are holding the upper hand in real estate transactions, sensing that there’s an opportunity here to successfully negotiate with sellers for a lower purchase price.”

Li also states that the market is still seeing a correction.

“The year-over-year percentage nearing zero means we’re approaching June 2021 prices,” he said. “Most would still consider those prices high and unaffordable.”

Year over year, median prices are up, but just 0.5%, according to HouseSigma.

There were two Metro Vancouver areas where median housing prices didn’t drop since February this year: North Vancouver and Port Moody.

HouseSigma

As previously mentioned, Delta and Surrey saw big drops in median housing prices, followed by Maple Ridge, Coquitlam, and Langley.

Li adds that we could still see another interest rate hike, potentially sending home prices in Metro Vancouver to pre-pandemic levels.

“It all depends on how aggressive the Bank of Canada is willing to go with rates to battle inflation.”