Metro Vancouver home sales in August returned to typical summer levels: REBGV

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With some slight improvements, home sales in Metro Vancouver returned to “more typical levels” throughout the summer months, according to a market update for August 2019 by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

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There were 2,231 home sales for all types during the month, representing a 15.7% increase from the 1,929 sales recorded in August 2018 and a 12.7% decrease from the 2,557 homes sold in July 2019. Overall, home sales last month were 9.2% under the 10-year sales average for August.

The composite benchmark price for all residential properties in the region is currently at $993,300 — an 8.3% decrease over the same month in 2018, and 0.2% lower than July 2019.

During the month, there were 3,747 detached, apartment, and townhouse properties newly listed, which is a 3.5% decrease over August 2018 and an 18.8% decrease compared to July 2019.

Here is the August 2019 breakdown for each home type:

Single-family detached
- Active listings: 5,904
- Unit sales: 706 (+24.5% over August 2018)
- Benchmark price: $1.406 million (-9.8% over August 2018, -0.7% over July 2019)
- Average days on market: 55
- Sales-to-active listings ratio: 12%
Apartments
- Active listings: 5,269
- Unit sales: 1,116 (+8.9% over August 2018)
- Benchmark price: $771,000 (-7.4% over August 2018, +0.1% over July 2019)
- Average days on market: 42
- Sales-to-active listings ratio: 21.2%
Townhouse
- Active listings: 2,223
- Unit sales: 409
- Benchmark price: $771,900 (-7.8% over August 2018, +0.2% over July 2019)
- Average days on market: 44
- Sales-to-active listings ratio: 18.4%

According to REBGV, a downward pressure on home prices occurs when the sales-to-active listings ratio dips below 12% over a sustained period, while home prices see upward pressure when it exceeds 20% for several months.

In total, there are currently 13,396 homes listed for sale in Metro Vancouver, up by 13.3% compared to August 2018 and 5.9% less than July 2019.