Click below to watch BCREA Chief Economist Cameron Muir discuss the April 2018 statistics:

Click here to visit BCREA’s YouTube channel. Read the news release here.

Click on the image above to view our April 2018 market update video featuring Board President Phil Moore

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in the region totalled 2,579 in April 2018, a 27.4% decrease from the 3,553 sales recorded in April 2017, and a 2.5% increase compared to March 2018 when 2,517 homes sold.

Last month’s sales were 22.5% below the 10-year April sales average.

“Market conditions are changing. Home sales declined in our region last month to a 17-year April low and home sellers have become more active than we’ve seen in the past three years,” Phil Moore, REBGV president said. “The mortgage requirements that the federal government implemented this year have, among other factors, diminished home buyers’ purchasing power and they’re being felt on the buyer side today.”

There were 5,820 detached, attached and apartment properties newly listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Metro Vancouver in April 2018. This represents an 18.6% increase compared to the 4,907 homes listed in April 2017 and a 30.8% increase compared to March 2018 when 4,450 homes were listed.

The total number of properties currently listed for sale on the MLS® system in Metro Vancouver is 9,822, a 25.7% increase compared to April 2017 (7,813) and a 17.2% increase compared to March 2018 (8,380).

“Home buyers have more breathing room this spring. They have more selection to choose from and less demand to compete against,” Moore said.

For all property types, the sales-to-active listings ratio for April 2018 is 26.3%. By property type, the ratio is 14.1% for detached homes, 36.1% for townhomes, and 46.7% for condominiums.

Generally, analysts say that downward pressure on home prices occurs when the ratio dips below the 12% mark for a sustained period, while home prices often experience upward pressure when it surpasses 20% over several months.

The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $1,092,000. This represents a 14.3% increase over April 2017 and a 0.7% increase compared to March 2018.

Sales of detached properties in April 2018 reached 807, a 33.4% decrease from the 1,211 detached sales recorded in April 2017. The benchmark price for detached properties is $1,605,800. This represents a 5.1% increase from April 2017 and a 0.2% decrease compared to March 2018.

Sales of apartment properties reached 1,308 in April 2018, a 24% decrease from the 1,722 sales in April 2017. The benchmark price of an apartment property is $701,000. This represents a 23.7% increase from April 2017 and a 1.1% increase compared to March 2018.

Attached property sales in April 2018 totalled 464, a 25.2% decrease compared to the 620 sales in April 2017. The benchmark price of an attached unit is $854,200. This represents a 17.7% increase from April 2017 and a 2.3% increase compared to March 2018.

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Amazon is set to massively expand its presence in downtown Vancouver, taking more than 400,000 square feet of office space in QuadReal’s redevelopment of the old post office, now known as The Post.

Amazon says more than 3,000 new jobs will located at its future Development Centre at The Post, opening in 2022. The centre will focus on cloud computing, machine learning and e-commerce.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the announcement is a testament to Canada’s highly-skilled, diverse workforce, and potential as an innovation and tech hub.

“Tech talent and investment are coming to our country in record numbers, and companies like Amazon are bringing even more energy, vision – and thousands of good jobs – to Canada.”

Amazon already employs over 1,000 researchers and engineers in Vancouver, primarily working at Telus Garden two blocks away. Last year, Amazon announced it plans to expand into another downtown site on Dunsmuir Street across from The Post, which will open in 2020.

To read more click here

Which of the following scary facts would you say is the scariest?

One: the total amount of debt in the world today exceeds the level it peaked at during the financial crisis.

Two: the amount being lent to the most speculative borrowers — leveraged loans, as they’re called — has broken through its pre-crisis peak.

Difficult choice, right? And not in a good way. After all, both nuggets, published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week, seem to point in the same direction. We are heading back to the bad old days, and most of the world doesn’t seem to have noticed.

To read more click here

The Bank of Canada decided to leave the target for the overnight policy rate unchanged at 1.25% this morning. In the statement accompanying the decision, the Bank noted that inflation is forecast to be slightly higher in 2018 than originally expected but will return to the Bank’s 2% target once the impact of higher gas prices and minimum wage increases dissipate.  While the mortgage stress test has been a contributor to weaker growth in the first quarter of 2018, the Bank expects the economy to be operating at above potential over the next three years, growing at an average rate of about 2%.

Although the Bank held steady today, with inflation rising to the Bank’s two% target and many Canadian firms operating at or near capacity, interest rates are very likely headed higher this year.  Headwinds from the trade sector have moderated, energy prices are higher and growth for the first quarter appears to be firming after a slow start. Given those trends, the Bank is likely to adjust its policy rate higher in coming months. That will translate to higher mortgage rates which, combined with the erosion of purchasing power from the mortgage stress test, will temper housing demand in 2018.

For more information, please contact: 

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) is the professional association for more than 20,000 REALTORS® in BC, focusing on provincial issues that impact real estate. Working with the province’s 11 real estate boards, BCREA provides continuing professional education, advocacy, economic research and standard forms to help REALTORS® provide value for their clients.

Real estate boards, real estate associations and REALTORS® may reprint this content, provided that credit is given to BCREA by including the following statement: “Copyright British Columbia Real Estate Association. Reprinted with permission.” BCREA makes no guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of this information

For the complete news release, including detailed statistics, click here.

For immediate release:

Vancouver, BC – April 12, 2018. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 7,409 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) across the province in March, a 24.6% decrease from the same month last year. The average MLS® residential price in BC was $726,930, up 5.3% from the previous year. Total sales dollar volume was $5.39 billion, a 20.6% decline from March 2017.

“More burdensome mortgage qualifications are having the predictable effect of swiftly curbing housing demand,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “You simply cannot pull as much as 20% of the purchasing power away from conventional mortgage borrowers and not create a downturn in consumer demand.”

Despite the decline in consumer demand, the supply of homes for sale remains low in most BC regions. Total active listings on the market are essentially unchanged from March 2017, and are at or near a 12-year low across the province. As a result, home prices are expected to continue an upward trajectory.

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was down 1.7% to $13.9 billion, compared with the same period in 2017. Residential unit sales decreased 9.4% to 18,927 units, while the average MLS® residential price was up 8.5% to $732,243.

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For more information, please contact: 

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) is the professional association for about 23,000 REALTORS® in BC, focusing on provincial issues that impact real estate. Working with the province’s 11 real estate boards, BCREA provides continuing professional education, advocacy, economic research and standard forms to help REALTORS® provide value for their clients.

To demonstrate the profession’s commitment to improving Quality of Life in BC communities, BCREA supports policies that help ensure economic vitality, provide housing opportunities, preserve the environment, protect property owners and build better communities with good schools and safe neighbourhoods.

For detailed statistical information, contact your local real estate board. MLS® is a cooperative marketing system used only by Canada’s real estate boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.

To subscribe to receive BCREA publications such as this one, or to update your email address or current subscriptions, click here.

REBGV President Phil Moore runs through the March 2018 housing market statistics

The latest Stats Centre Report for Metro Vancouver is now available. To view it, click here.

To view the latest Stats Centre Report for Vancouver East, click here.
To view the latest Stats Centre Report for Vancouver West, click here.

If you’d like to see reports for other areas within the Board, click here (password required). We’ve created these reports for you to share with your clients each month.