Happy August – my birthday month and the best time of the year! I hope you’re enjoying the sunny weather and time with family and friends. It’s a slow market so I’ll keep this recap short as well.
There was another 25pt interest rate decrease in July, making that 50points this year. There is another announcement in September, October and December with experts expecting another 1-2 drops this year, so we could be down a full percentage point by the end of the year, with more to come in 2025. Fixed rates have been dropping as well so there is a lot of positivity in the market.
July seemed to be pretty busy overall. I know the stats indicate increasing inventory and fewer sales, but it doesn’t feel like that on the ground. There doesn’t seem to be many good listings, and there is often competition when something is good (or priced low). Now that we’re into August, I have notice a significant decline in the number of new listings hitting the market. There are a lot of listings sitting on the market, and many of those are over priced and would be willing to negotiate, so if you’re looking to buy, now is a good time. I always say that if someone is on the market in August it’s likely because they are really keen to sell, so throw an offer at them if you like the home but not the price.
I have a lot of clients who are waiting to sell until their buy something, or waiting until they at least have the confidence to know that they will have options. I imagine Fall will be fairly busy with new listings and Buyers coming back to the table. This coming Spring 2025 should be when the market opens up again with quite a few new Buyers looking to make a move. I bet a lot of these Buyers will be buying + selling so that will bring in a lot of new inventory and a lot of movement across the market.
There was also a major change to tenancy rules. Now, landlords need to give their tenants 3 full months notice to vacate (assuming it’s a month to month tenancy) if a Buyer will be moving into the property. This notice should be provided to tenants at least 3 days before the end of the month to be considered received, if not earlier, and can only be provided once a Buyer has removed all subjects on their contract. This means that potential Buyers need to wait ~4 months before moving into a new property. This will affect Buyers desire to purchase properties that are currently rented as waiting 3-4 months is longer than normal and can affect financing approval, so I imagine a lot of scenarios where landlords who are keen to sell will have to encourage their tenant to leave earlier by offering to pay the tenant a fixed sum. A positive change for tenants but a negative change for landlords. It will be interesting to see how this affects tenanted properties over the next few months.
Here’s a snippet from the Real Estate Board’s Monthly Update:
The total number of properties currently listed for sale on the MLS® in Metro Vancouver is 14,326, a 39.1 per cent increase compared to July 2023 (10,301). This is also 21.5 per cent above the 10-year seasonal average (11,788).
Across all detached, attached and apartment property types, the sales-to-active listings ratio for July 2024 is 16.9 per cent. By property type, the ratio is 12.8 per cent for detached homes, 20.1 per cent for attached, and 19.3 per cent for apartments. Analysis of the historical data suggests downward pressure on home prices occurs when the ratio dips below 12 per cent for a sustained period, while home prices often experience upward pressure when it surpasses 20 per cent over several months.
“With the overall market experiencing balanced conditions, and with a healthy level of inventory not seen in quite a few years, price trends across all segments have leveled out with very modest declines occurring month over month,” Lis said. “While it remains to be seen whether softening prices and improved borrowing costs will entice buyers to purchase as we head into the fall market, it’s worth noting that it can take a few months for improvements to borrowing costs to materialize into higher transaction levels. In this respect, it’s still early days, so we will watch the market for signs of transaction activity picking up in the months ahead.”
The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $1,197,700. This represents a 0.8 per cent decrease over July 2023 and a 0.8 per cent decrease compared to June 2024.
Onto the stats:
Vancouver West Real Estate Stats up to and including July 2024
HPI Price for Vancouver West
*Unfortunately HPI Price can’t be any more specific than Condo/Townhouse/House*
Average Sales Price for Vancouver West
Median Percentage of Original Price for Vancouver West
New Listings for Vancouver West
Total Inventory for Vancouver West
Total Sales for Vancouver West
Sales to Active Ratio for Vancouver West
Median Days on Market for Vancouver West
East Vancouver Real Estate Stats up to and including July 2024
HPI Price for East Vancouver
*Unfortunately HPI Price can’t be any more specific than Condo/Townhouse/House*
Average Sales Price for East Vancouver
Median Percentage of Original Price for East Vancouver
New Listings for East Vancouver
Total Inventory for East Vancouver
Total Sales for East Vancouver
Sales to Active Ratio for East Vancouver
Median Days on Market for East Vancouver
As always, if you have questions on a particular kind of property or neighbourhood, get in touch with me!
And if you’re thinking about selling your property, give me a call to chat about value, pricing strategy and the sale process. There are plenty of details to chat about – including timing, value, staging and your potential purchase – so don’t hesitate to contact me if you’d like to get started kristi@realestatevancity.ca or 778-387-7371. The better you understand your current value and what Buyers may be looking for, the more successful your sale.
The mortgage world is changing constantly these days – fixed rates (which are based on bond yields) are changing all the time and variable rates (based on the Bank of Canada prime rate) are slowly going down. Make sure you have a pre-approval set so that your mortgage broker can keep you updated on the best possible rates and can work quickly if the property you want ends up in a competitive situation. There are a lot of details to consider when it comes to a mortgage, especially if you’re buying and selling, so you need a broker who can guide you to the right option. Email me if you need a referral to a great mortgage broker.
Enjoy the dog days of August!