Listings and prices are up, but Vancouver home sales are down
Existing home sales in Canada’s most expensive city dropped in April, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
The board described home sale and listing activity as maintaining a “consistent pace” leading to balanced market conditions but its April statistic shows total sales across the Multiple Listing Service in April were 2,799, a 12.3% decline from a year ago. It also represented a 2.6% decline from March 2012.
REBGV said April sales were the lowest for the month in the region since 2001 and 16.9% below the 10-year average for the month of 3.369.
“Although April sales were below what’s typical for the month, we continue to see, with a sales-to-active listing ratio of nearly 17%, a balanced relationship between buyer demand and seller supply in our marketplace,” said Eugen Klein, president of the board.
The board’s so-called benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver was up 3.7% in April from a year ago to $683,800. Prices are up 2.8% over the last three months. In the Lower Mainland prices were up 3.4% in April from a year ago to $612,000.
“Recent activity has had a stabilizing effect on home prices at the regional level, although pricing can vary depending on area and property type,” said Mr. Klein said.
Supply has been increasing in the Greater Vancouver area with the total new listings in April up to 6,056, a 3.6% jump from just a month earlier. However, new listings are also only up 3.6% from a year earlier. April new listings were 6.7% above the 10-year average for Greater Vancouver in April.
Overall, the board had 16,538 homes listed for sale on the MLS which is up 8.5% compared to March, 2012 and 16% from a year ago.
Source: Garry Marr, Financial Post
