Vancouver home sales fall to lowest in 18 years

In 2018, Metro Vancouver home sales were the lowest in 18 years, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

The board’s report, released Thursday, says there were 24,619 sales of detached, attached and apartment properties on the Multiple Listing Service, a 31.6 per cent decrease from the 35,993 sales in 2017.

Last year’s sales were the lowest since 2000, and were 25 per cent below the region’s 10-year sales average, according to the report.

Board president Phil Moore called 2018 a transition period away from the sellers’ market of previous years.

Moore said high home prices, rising interest rates, new mortgage requirements and taxes all contributed to the market conditions.

Home listings in Metro hit 53,614 in 2018. That is a 1.9 per cent decrease from the 54,655 homes listed in 2017 and a 6.9 per cent decrease from the 57,596 homes listed in 2016.

“The supply of homes for sale will be an important indicator to follow in 2019. We’ve had record building activity in recent years and many projects will complete soon. This will provide additional housing options for homebuyers across the region,” Moore said.

The composite benchmark price for all residential homes in Metro was down 2.7 per cent to $1,032,400. The price of detached homes was down 7.8 per cent.

Condo prices went up slightly, by 0.6 per cent over the past 12 months, but have declined 6.4 per cent since June. Town homes have increased 1.3 per cent since December 2017, but have decreased 5.3 per cent in the last six months.

December sales were down by nearly half compared with Dec. 2017. The report says 1,072 homes sold last month, a 46.8 per cent decrease from the 2,016 sales in December 2017 and a 33.3 per cent decrease from November 2018 when 1,608 homes sold.