HOUSING MARKET UPDATE
Balanced increases create stable marketplace
The Greater Vancouver housing market
has enjoyed four consecutive months of
balanced market conditions. This comes
on the heels of a frenetic “seller’s” market
period to close 2009, which saw inventory
consumed at a near record pace.
Activity is strong in today’s market, but
increases are occurring evenly between
listings and sales, which has kept the market
in a balanced state.
A housing market enters “balanced” territory
when demand, represented by sales
activity, reaches an equilibrium range
with the supply of homes for sale. Most
analysts believe the market reaches this
equilibrium range when the sales-to-active
listings ratio is between 18 and 22 per cent
for a sustained period.
The Greater Vancouver market entered
this range in January 2010 and has maintained
this balance to present day.
“We’re in the midst of another strong
spring season thanks to high levels of activity
on both the buyer and seller side of
our market,” Jake Moldowan, Board president
said. “The number of homes coming
on the market has increased significantly
in recent months, which is providing a
healthy level of choice for those looking to
buy during this busy period.”
The strength of demand in the market
since the economic downturn has resulted
in rising home prices. In the last 12
months, increases in home values have
eliminated the approximately 15 per cent
decline seen during the recession and
propelled home prices in the region to
new heights.
The MLSLink® Housing Price Index
(HPI) benchmark price for a residential
property in Greater Vancouver
today is $593,419, an increase of 4.4
per cent from the pre-recession peak of
$568,411in May 2008.
Last month, the average price of a
detached home in Greater Vancouver
surpassed $1 million for the first time in
the Board’s history. This created significant
discussion about affordability in
the region.
“While home values have now eclipsed
the previous peaks, a diverse range of
available properties and low interest rates
continue to present opportunities for firsttime
and move-up buyers,” Moldowan
said. “The product mix today is as varied
as it has ever been in our market.”
The graph pictured here shows the
distribution of recent home sales in the
region by price point. Of all residential
properties purchased in Greater Vancouver
in the first quarter of 2010, 48 per cent
sold for less than $500,000 and just 14 per
cent exceeded the $1 million mark.
Today’s market, at all price points, is
operating at a rapid pace. In April, it took
members, on average, 31 days to sell a
home in Greater Vancouver, which is one
day less than the March 2010 average, but
29 days faster than the 60-day average in
April 2009.