Greater Vancouver housing market heats up

The Vancouver region’s detached-housing market has turned hot again. 

The average price for detached houses sold in Greater Vancouver reached a record of $1,830,956 in May, up 5 per cent from the same month in 2016 and just surpassing the previous high of $1,826,541 in January 2016.

While the market for detached homes cooled in the second half of 2016, condos and townhouses experienced a short lull before continuing on a tear, smashing former highs. The average price for condos sold in Greater Vancouver last month hit a record of $656,919, up 15.1 per cent from a year earlier, and the average price for townhouses jumped 7.4 per cent to a new high of $858,994

Last month, Greater Vancouver’s benchmark residential price reached a new high of $967,500, up 8.8 per cent from one year earlier and a 54.7-per-cent surge compared with three years ago. The industry’s benchmark price depicts typical properties sold.

Over all for various housing types, residential sales in the region totaled 4,364 last month, down 8.5 per cent from May 2016. Still, last month’s transactions marked the third-highest volume for May, ringing in 23.7-per-cent higher than the 10-year sales average for May. A record high of 5,173 properties changed hands in March 2016.

Sales volume for detached properties began falling in April 2016. Sales in the detached category fell for 10 consecutive months, but the trend changed in February, with transactions rising month over month in Greater Vancouver.

In the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s territory, sales in May fell 7 per cent year-over-year while the price for various housing types last month averaged $740,280, up 1.7 per cent from a year earlier.

The price for detached houses sold in Langley last month averaged more than $1-million, up 12.2 per cent from May 2016.

If you or anyone you know has questions about the real estate market in a specific neighborhood, feel free to contact me at any time.