The December 2024 Multiple Listing Service (MLS) market report released by the Greater Vancouver Realtors (GVR) indicated a strong finish to 2024, with an over 30% year-over-year increase in home sales in December.
With 2024 now drawn to a close, Andrew Lis, GVR director of Economics and Data Analytics had the following reflection on this past year: “Looking back on 2024, it could best be described as a pivot year for the market after experiencing such dramatic increases in mortgage rates in the preceding years. With borrowing costs now firmly on the decline, buyers have started to show up in numbers after somewhat of a hiatus – and this renewed strength is now clearly visible in the more recent monthly data”.
Home Sales
There were 1,765 residential property sales in December 2024, which was a marked 31.2% increase from the 1,345 sales in December 2023. However, December numbers continued the 2024 trend, and fell 14.9% below the 10-year seasonal average.
In 2024, GVR reported that residential sales totaled 26,562, representing a 1.2% increase from 2023, and a 9.2% decrease from 2022.
The number of detached properties sold was 494, 31.4% more than December 2023.
The number of apartments sold was 891, 23.9% more than December 2023.
The number of attached properties sold was 371, 55.9% more than December 2023.
Home Listings
2024 closed off with 1,676 newly listed properties for sale in December, a 26.3% increase from December 2023. This was 1.1% below the 10 year seasonal average.
In December 2024, there were 10,948 homes listed on the MLS system in Metro Vancouver. This was a 24.4% increase from December 2023, and also 25.3% above the 10-year seasonal average.
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 in December was 16.8%. When broken down by property types, the ratio was:
- 12.1% for detached homes
- 23.6% for attached homes
- 18.7% for apartments