the rennie review - November 2019

Vancouver housing demand resurgent . October marked four straight months of year-over-year sales gains across the Vancouver region. As inventories continue to fall for all home types, prices are beginning to increase once again.

have begun to inch upwards after months of stagnation: overall, prices were up 0.1% in October versus September, with detached prices up 0.3% and condo prices up 0.1% (townhome prices inched down by 0.1%). The myriad of changes our market is undergoing across home types, neighbourhoods, and price points has created conditions that favour sellers of homes under $1M regionally, while conditions are balanced in the $1-1.5M range, and buyers continue to have the upperhand when it comes to the most expensive segments of the market. Overall, however, it has become unambiguously clear that our market has exited the slump that characterized much of the past two years. Looking ahead, expect even more competition for available homes which, when combined with continued favourable economic conditions, is sure to create tailwinds for prices.

Our region’s housing market has charted a new course in the second half of 2019 and logged its 4th consecutive month of sales gains in October, with last month’s sales up 42% compared to October 2018. These changes reflect continued population growth, economic expansion, an absence of new policy interventions, and some pent-up demand that has accumulated over the past couple of years. Notably, the rebound has been realized across all home types, with sales of townhomes in October up 40%, condos up 41%, and detached up 43% versus last year. As a result, townhome and condo sales are now 22% above their respective long-run historical averages, and while detached sales are still 7% below the norm, this represents a marked shift since March 2019 when detached sales were more than 50% below their long-run average.

While these data points tell us how our current market is faring in the context of past years, they speak less directly to its recently- changing trajectory. For this we look to recent month-over-month changes. October’s sales were up 21% versus September, notable as we typically see an average 7% increase between September and October markets. This builds on what we saw in September, when sales increased despite the typical August-to-September decline. Clearly, the demand side of our market is playing catch- up, with the 4,367 sales registered last month representing the fourth-highest number in the past ten Octobers. One consequence of this recently-elevated sales activity has been a contraction in inventory, with total listings down 12% year- over-year and 11% month-over-month. It’s not surprising, then, that benchmark prices

Copyright © 2019 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 November 6, 2019. All data from RealEstateBoard ofGreaterVancouverandFraserValley & 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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