Lower Mainland housing market saw new momentum last month: report

The housing markets of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley saw continued upward momentum in September, according to an update by MLA Advisory.

During the month, 978 multi-family units entered the market across 17 project launches, making September the busiest month for pre-sale activity since March. There was strong activity, with 36% in same-month sales, including a sold rate of nearly 50% for townhomes that came into the market during the month.

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The market update also indicated that the re-sale market saw a 46% increase over the same month in 2018 — an increase from 1,595 sales to 2,333 sales.

“After strong sales activity taking place over the summer months, September saw a massive jump in activity compared to 2018,” reads the update.

“It is to be noted that September 2018 saw abnormally low sales levels, and this past month is much closer to the 10-year average experienced in our market, a strong sign that we have returned to normalized sales levels. The sales-to-listings ratio in September hit 18% for all product types, which is the high end of a balanced market. Price appreciation is normally seen when this ratio goes above 20 per cent.”

Analysts say a rebound in re-sale activity is a precursor to an increase in sales volumes of pre-sale homes.

For October’s market activity forecast, MLA Advisory is expecting seven pre-sale projects totalling about 600 units across all home types, including 309 concrete units, 194 woodframe units, and 99 townhomes. The two concrete project launches are located in Central Surrey and North Vancouver.

“Due to dampened activity in the concrete market, concrete projects continue to host longer preview periods to generate interest before initiating their sales launch,” adds the update.