Vancouver Real Estate Statistics - September 2018

Months of Inventory (MOI*) was in double digits for Vancouver Westside detached homes for 10 of the last 13 months.  Not surprisingly Prices have been falling.  Unlike houses, attached homes and apartments have remained below 5 months for most of the past 13 months.  However, there too MOI is on an upward trajectory.


The Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board's HPI price for detached westside homes shows house prices retreating to where they were in early 2016.  Meanwhile the gains on attached homes and apartments appear to be leveling off.

The median price per square foot helps illustrate the change.  Apartments are presently more costly per square foot than houses and townhomes.


Sales volumes for detached homes have been near lows not seen since the credit crisis and this has been the principle factor in falling prices for houses.  With more stringent recent mortgage qualification rules and a host of new taxes on Vancouver homes, this trend is unlikely to change.
 
Unlike houses, very low active listing volumes for apartments and attached homes were the most significant factor in rising prices on those homes.  Note that since early 2018 both apartments and attached homes have seen increasing active listings.  Couple that with falling sale volumes and it feels very much like prices are softening across all home types.

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").