It appears potential home buyers in the Greater Vancouver Area (GVA) thought lounging on Kitsilano Beach or cruising Boundary Bay were better ways to spend the month of August. The Greater Vancouver Realtors (GVR) association reports sales in the GVA last month were down 17.1% from August last year, coming in at 1,904. Nothing unusual, said Andrew Lis, GVR’s director of economics and data analytics. “From a seasonal perspective, August is typically a slower month for sales than June or July. In this respect, this August has been no different,” said Lis in a release. "With that said, sales remain in a holding pattern, trending roughly 20% below their 10-year seasonal average, which suggests buyers are still feeling the pinch of higher borrowing costs, despite two recent quarter percentage point reductions to the policy rate this summer.” The number of homes available for sale increased, with 4,109 new listings coming to market, a 4.2% increase from August 2023, and bringing the total number of listings to 13,812, a 37% increase compared to August 2023 (10,082). “Buyers’ hesitancy to enter the market, paired with new listing activity on the part of sellers that is in line with historical averages, has allowed inventory to accumulate for a number of months and has moved the market firmly into balanced conditions,” Lis said. “With the Bank of Canada’s decision to reduce the policy rate today by another quarter percentage point, and with September being a month that typically sees an increase in sales from a seasonal perspective, the fall market is set up to bring more buyers off the sidelines. We will watch the upcoming September data to see whether they decide to show up.” The market-wide sales-to-active listings ratio in August was 14.3%, while, by housing type the ratio was 9.6% for single-family homes, 18% for attached home and 17.2% for apartments. The Home Price Index composite benchmark price for the GVA was $1,195,900, a 0.9% decrease from August last year and down 0.2% from July. By housing type, there were 509 single-family sales, a 13.% year-over-year decrease. The single-family home benchmark price was $2,048,400 in August, up 1.8% from August last year and equal to July’s price. Apartment sales reached 1,012 in August, a 20.3% decrease from August last year, with the benchmark price declining 0.1% from August 2023, to $768,200 and also equal to July’s price. There were 370 sales of attached homes, a 12.3% from August last year. The benchmark price of a townhouse is $1,119,300, a 0.8% increase from August 2023 and a 0.5% decrease from July 2024.
