home sales hit an all-time September high
Home buyers remained very active throughout the Vancouver Region last month even as the school year got underway and concerns emerged around the impact of the pandemic’s second wave. Demand has been strong for all home types.
since the early-1970s. In a nutshell, that provided a real boost to the housing market.) Inventory has continued to expand at a steady, but slowing, pace, resulting in year- over-year median price increases (of 11% in the Greater Vancouver board area and 17% in the Fraser Valley board area) that have not been seen since early-2018. Continued low interest rates and the ongoing job recovery (uncertain as its trajectory may be) have created fertile ground for continued housing market activity. Add to this the fact that only 3,180 of the 11,001 unrealized sales (i.e. pent-up demand) from January through June have been realized in the past three months, and it is conceivable that sales counts in 2020’s remaining months could give September a run for its money.
As real a trend as this may be, the condo market has nonetheless been very active: the 2,080 condo sales in September were the most in any month since October 2017, were up 36% year-over-year, and were 53% higher than the past 10-year average. As Oscar Wilde might have said were he a current- day housing analyst, the death of the condo market has been greatly exaggerated. Turning back to the bigger sales picture, September’s total sales count was only 2% below the all-time high for the Greater Vancouver board area (also achieved in 1992) and in the Fraser Valley was 20% higher than next most-active September-- again in 1992. (What was up with September 1992, you ask? Well, Canada was emerging from a two-year recession, aided by the Bank of Canada having lowered its policy interest rate from 13.8% in May 1990 to 4.86% in August 1992--at that time the lowest rate
Most of the attention given to the September housing market statistics for the Vancouver Region will, rightfully so, focus on the sheer number of transactions that took place. Indeed, the 5,759 sales tallied last month across the combined Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley board areas were the most ever for a September (5% higher than in 1992), were up 59% versus September 2019, and were 61% higher than the past-decade average for the month. A less heralded observation from recent months is the existence of what appears to be a sort of “Covid-effect” within the region’s housing market. Specifically, while condos accounted for 42% of all sales during the 12 months before the pandemic took hold in April, only 37% of sales since then have been in this format, with buyers increasingly looking for larger homes with more outdoor space.
Copyright © 2020 rennie group of companies. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced or distributed, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of the rennie group of companies. Current as of October 5, 2020. All data from Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley & Rennie. While the information and data contained herein has been obtained from sources deemed reliable, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. rennie group of companies does not assume responsibility or liability for any inaccuracies. The recipient of the information should take steps as the recipient may deem necessary to verify the information prior to placing any reliance upon the information. The information contained within this report should not be used as an opinion of value, such opinions should and can be obtained from a rennie and associates advisor. All information is subject to change and any property may be withdrawn from the market at any time without notice or obligation to the recipient from rennie group of companies. E.&O.E. 3
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