REBGV Market Update For May 2023 – The Real Estate Market Is Heating Up

The May 2023 market report released by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) indicates a significant increase in housing prices for the sixth consecutive month, reflecting a strong demand for housing in Metro Vancouver. This growth comes as a drastic shift from the market conditions in December 2022 when the Bank of Canada raised its lending rate.

According to Andrew Lis, the REBGV director of economics and data analytics, the rise in prices has surpassed earlier projections. In January, the forecast predicted a modest increase of around two percent by the end of 2023. However, by the midway point of the year, Metro Vancouver home prices had already risen by approximately six percent across all home types.

The primary factor contributing to the price surge is the relatively higher number of buyers compared to the available supply of homes for sale. This imbalance in supply and demand is leading to a shortage of resale homes in the market.

In May 2023, the number of residential property sales in the region reached 3,411, showing a 15.7% increase compared to the same period last year. This also represented a slight decline of 1.4% from the ten-year seasonal average of 3,458 homes sold.

Breaking down the sales by property types, there were 1,043 detached properties sold, marking a 30.7% increase from May 2022. The number of apartments sold was 1,730, showing a 7.9% increase, and attached properties had 608 sales, indicating a 16.7% increase compared to May 2022.

As for new listings, there were 5,661 properties added to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in May 2023. This figure represented an 11.5% decrease compared to May 2022 and was 4.3% below the ten-year seasonal average.

The sales-to-active-listings ratio, which provides insights into the supply-demand dynamics, was 28.5% for detached homes, 45% for townhomes, and 45.5% for condominiums. Ratios below 12% for a sustained period can lead to downward pressure on home prices, while ratios above 20% for sustained periods can result in upward pressure on prices.

In terms of home prices, the MLS Home Price index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver was $1,188,000 in May 2023. This represented a 5.5% decrease compared to May 2022 but a 1.3% increase compared to April 2023.

Click here for a full report.

The real estate landscape in Vancouver is rapidly changing. If you are buying or selling a home, you need to get in touch with an experienced real estate company such as ours to navigate this market during these unheard of times. Contact us by email or call us on 604 913 1000.