The August 2024 stats released by the Greater Vancouver Realtors (GVR) revealed that home sales remained below their 10-year seasonal average despite the two quarter point interest cuts by the Bank of Canada.
“From a seasonal perspective, August is typically a slower month for sales than in June or July. In this respect, August has been no different. With that said, sales remain in a holding pattern, trending roughly 20% below their 10-year seasonal average, which suggests buyers are still feeling the pinch of higher borrowing costs, despite two recent quarter percentage point reductions to the policy rate this summer.” said Andrew Lis, GVR Director of Economics and Data Analytics.
Home Sales
In August, Metro Vancouver recorded 1,904 residential home sales, which represented a 17.1% decrease from the 2,296 sales recorded in August 2023. This was also 26% below the 10-year seasonal average of 2,572.
Detached Homes: 509 sold, a 13.9% decrease from 591sales in August 2023.
Attached Homes: 370 sold, a 12.3% decrease from 422 sales in August 2023.
Apartment Homes: 1,012 sold, a 20.3% decrease from 1,270 sales in August 2023.
Home Listings
The number of newly homes listed for sale on the MLS in Metro Vancouver was 4,109 for August 2024. This represented a 4.2% increase compared to the 3,943 homes listed in August 2023. This total was 1.7% below the 10-year seasonal average of 4,179.
The total number of listings for August 2024 on the MLS was 13,812, a 37% increase compared to the 10,082 listed in August 2023. This total was also 20.8% above the 10 year seasonal average of 11,432.
Sales-To-Active-Listings Ratio
This is a good indication of the supply and demand forces in the market. Downward pressure on home prices can occur when the ratio is below 12% for a sustained period, and there is upward pressure when the ratio is above 20% for a number of months.
For all property types, the ratio was 14.3% in August 2024. When broken down by property types:
- 9.6% for detached homes
- 18% for townhomes
- 17.2% for condos