June house sales across Greater Vancouver were the lowest since 2000 because for the first time in two years, the benchmark cost for all households in the region fell below $1 million.
The Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board (REBGV) claims 2,077 homes sold in June, down 14.4 percent year-on-year and down 21.3 percent from this year’s May.
According to the board, sales were also 34.7 percent below the June 10-year average and the 19-year lowest for the month.
The pace of new market listings has slackened, with a 10% fall in new homes added to the market since June 2018, the REBGV said.
However, inventory continued to stack up, with just under 15,000 homes listed for sale — up 25.3 per cent from the same month last year and up a modest 1.9 per cent from May 2019, it said.
As sales continue to soften so, too, do prices.
The benchmark price for all home types was $998,700 in June, the lowest it has been since May 2017, the REBGV said.
For detached homes across the region, the benchmark price was $1,423,500, down 10.9 per cent year over year and 9.2 per cent over three years but up 0.1 per cent from May.
For apartments, the benchmark price was $654,700 in June, down 8.9 per cent year over year and 1.4 per cent from May.
Drilling deeper into numbers shows some wilder swings in pricing.
The benchmark price for a detached home in West Vancouver was down 12.9 per cent from last June. It was also down 13.1 per cent in Richmond, 14 per cent on Vancouver’s west side and 12.6 per cent in South Burnaby.
Condo prices, which have better resisted the cool-down, also saw significant movement in some sub-regions.
The benchmark price of a condo was below $500,000 in Ladner, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam and Tsawwassen and under $600,000 in East Vancouver, Coquitlam, New Westminster and North Vancouver.
The REBGV said the sluggish market means buyers are seeing the most choice in five years but that sellers continue to hold on, hoping for “yesterday’s value for their homes.”
Source URL: “https://globalnews.ca/news/5456739/vancouver-june-2019-home-prices/”