June 2008 Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver Statistics

Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) statistics for June 2008 were released recently. The news release from REBGV is entitled “Market activity offers awaited relief for homebuyers”. In brief, we saw sales down 42.9% (2,425) compared to a year ago (4,244) and listings rose again by 18.3% (6,546) compared to a year ago (5,533).

“Although housing prices, on a year-over-year comparison, continue to show single-digit percentage increases, we are beginning to see more price reductions in properties listed on the market today,” said REBGV president, David Watt. “Homes priced at a competitive level continue to sell quickly, but it is important for people to accurately identify their home’s value when putting it on the market.”

There is no doubt about it, the numbers are continuing to show signs of weakening. I scoured through the stats, trying to find bright spots in the Vancouver East and Vancouver West markets but it was a challenge that I could not meet.

In my market of Vancouver we saw the benchmark price for detached homes (+9.5% Westside and +7.2% Eastside) and apartments (+8% Westside and +9.1% Eastside) continue to rise on a year-to-year comparison. Once again, however, we saw a drop in prices on a month-to-month basis.

The benchmark price for detached homes on the Westside rose from May to June 2008 (from $1,500,000 to $1,549,000 +3.3%) but dropped on the Eastside (from $699,000 to $662,000 -5.6%). The benchmark price for apartments eased for both the West (from $458,500 to $445,000 -3%) and Eastsides (from $321,000 to $303,500 -5.8%).

Last month, the Eastside had shown greater resiliency in the market. However, it looks as though the general trends occurring elsewher in the market have caught up with Vancouver East as well.

Here are some further numbers from the month of June 2008. The numbers in brackets indicate the month-to-month change for that statistic:

Vancouver West
Sales: 498 (-26.5%)
Listings: 1391 (-15.9%)
Sell/List Ratio: 35.9% (-3.1)
Months Supply: 7.35
Active Listings: 3660 (+10.1%)

Vancouver East
Sales: 270 (-18.1%)
Listings: 695 (-14.5%)
Sell/List Ratio: 38.9% (-1.1)
Months Supply: 6.54
Active Listings: 1765 (+11,2%)

Sebastian Albrecht, Vancouver Realtor with Royal LePage Westside