Metro Vancouver home sales increased by 45% in October: report

Metro Vancouver’s housing market saw one of its largest upswings in October 2019, ever since the slowdown began. Home sales for the month reached 2,858 units — a staggering 45.4% increase from the 1,966 sales in the same period in 2018, and a major 22.5% increase from the 2,333 sales in September 2019.

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Moreover, sales for last month were 9.8% above the 10-year October sales average, marking one of the first times during the slowdown that the housing market has bucked the trend of going below the 10-year sales average, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) data.

“The recent uptick in home sales is moving us into a more historically typical market,” said Ashley Smith, president of REBGV. “Both sale and listing activity is trending around our long-term averages in recent months.”

The sales-to-active listings ratio for the month was 23.4%, with 17.3% for detached homes, 26.2% for townhomes, and 29% for apartments. Analysts say a downward pressure on prices occurs when the ratio drops below 12% over a sustained period, and an upward pressure on prices happens when it goes over 20% for at least a few months.

There were 4,074 homes newly listed for sale last month, which is a 16.4% decrease compared to the 4,873 homes listed in October 2018 and a 16.3% decrease compared to September 2019 when 4,866 homes were listed.

Currently, there are 12,236 homes listed for sale, representing a 5.8% drop from the same period last year and a 9% decrease from September 2019.

The composite benchmark price for all residential properties in the region is currently hovering at $992,000 — a drop of 6.4% from October 2018, a 1.7% decrease over the past six months, and a 0.2% increase since September 2019.

October 2019 home sales statistics

Detached homes

• Number of units sold: 938 (+47.3% year-over-year)
• Benchmark price: $1,410,500 (-7.5% year-over-year; -1.3% over six months; +0.3% over September 2019)

Apartment homes

• Number of units sold: 1,384 (+40.5% year-over-year)
• Benchmark price:  $652,500 (-5.9% year-over-year; -2.2% over six months; +0.2% over September 2019)

Townhouse sales

• Number of units sold: 536 (+55.8% year-over-year)
• Benchmark price: $771,600 (-5.8% year-over-year; -0.4% over six months; +0.5% over September 2019)