July 2010 Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver MLS Statistics

Vancouver Real Estate Statistics for July 2010

Monthly Vancouver Real Estate MLS Statistics - July 2010

A Summer Buyer’s Market

Last month, I referred to some “positive signals” that I saw in the Vancouver real estate market statistics. In particular, I felt that new listings coming onto the market were slowing and the total number of active listings were declining. Both of these are strengthening signals, and both of these trends continued through the month of July 2010.

However, this past July we saw sales stall faster than the drop in supply. We can spend a lot of time figuring out why buyers may be retreating (confusion over the HST, lack of confidence in the economy, tightening lending restrictions, etc), but the fact is that July 2010 was one of the slower months for sales in the past decade.

Vancouver saw Sales fall to 818, a drop of -14.61% from the previous month and -38.36% from July 2009. These are tough comparisons, as both months were some of the strongest sales months on record. However, the result was that July 2010 was (as mentioned above) one of the slower selling months in the last 10 years.

Whiles Sales slowed, so did new listings. They fell to 1318 in July 2010, a decline of -29.63% over the previous month and -18.24% from the previous year. Meanwhile, the total active listings on the Vancouver real estate market declined to 4695. This was a drop of -10.64% from June 2010 but an increase of +45.99% over July 2009.

This is the third month in a row that prices are seeing a decline. The decline in demand, and a relatively high supply is putting downward pressure on prices across the board. The only area that did not see a drop in prices this past month were detached houses on the Westside where there was a slight +1.37% gain to $1,610,426.

The Vancouver Real Estate Board’s official line

“With the pace of home sales and listings easing off in our market, we’ve begun to see a levelling of home prices from the record highs seen in the spring, creating greater affordability,” Jake Moldowan, REBGV president said. “Activity in today’s marketplace is clearly trending in favour of buyers.”

“It’s currently taking home sellers who work with a REALTOR®, on average, 45 days to sell their property, which is a historically healthy timeframe for people on both sides of a transaction,” Moldowan said.

More info on Vancouver real estate

Are you a first time home buyer? I have helped many first time buyers purchase their first home. If you are thinking of looking, I can help you take advantage of all the government programs and incentives, educate you on the process, and get you the best possible deal on the home that you want.

Contact Sebastian, Vancouver Realtor or send me a quick email.