Covid-19 has had a dramitic impact on Months of Inventory (MOI*) for Vancouver Westside detached homes. Detached homes' MOI dropped to 4.58 months in March 2020, a low not seen since May 2017. By late March the Coronavirus had been identified as a global pandemic and the closures of public facilities and businesses began. The result to the Vancouver Real Estate market was that MOI rocketed back up to over 12 months in April.
Active listings fell for Detached and Attached homes in both March and April. Apartment active listings rose slightly.
Inversely to Active listings, Sales volumes increased to 106 house sales in March, then plunged to only 37 sales in April. A low not seen for decades. Although Active listing fell significantly they did not fall enough to offset the decline in sales. The result was the steep increase in MOI.
Prices remained relativly stable in April.
The Government of Canada and British Columbia have implemented many programs to provide direct stimulus to the economy and to provide liquidity for financial institutions during the Covid-19 crisis. This includes quantitative easing measures. In the past, when the Federal Reserve has "printed money" through quantitative easing programs (purchasing financials assets by adding credits to the reserve accounts of client banks) the result was increasing prices in the Vancouver real estate market. It remains to be seen if the coming stimulus will prop up prices or not.
By Sam Wyatt - Vancouver Realtor.
*Months of Inventory (MOI) is a measure derived from the number of active listings during a given month divided by the number of sales that month. It indicates the theoretical length of time it would take to sell all of the properties on the market if nothing changed. Historically, 0-5 months of inventory has generally implied upward price pressure ("Seller's Market"), 5-8 months of inventory has indicated a flat market with respect to pricing ("Balanced Market") and over 8 months of inventory has, for the most part, precipitated downward price pressure ("Buyer's Market").
