June 2009 Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver MLS Statistics – A Near Record Month | Vancouver Real Estate Blog

What goes down must come up

Isn’t it amazing what kind of a difference a few months make? Back in January 2009 the Vancouver real estate market saw it’s worst month in over 30 years. June 2009 ended up being the second best month (by sales) ever (second only to June 2005).

We have now had five consecutive months of increasing sales in the Vancouver real estate market. Across the board, the market is improving (eastside vs. westside, prices, sales, active listings, etc).

Most statistics had only been looking favorable on a month-to-month basis. Last month started to look better, but this month blew June 2008 out of the water. We saw massive upswings in Sales, declines in Listings and declines in Active Listings.

One area that has yet to catch up are prices. However, from a low in March 2009 prices are starting to recover very quickly. You can see from the numbers below that there were some very big upswings this past month (detached homes in particular). If inventory remains low and demand continues we’ll see prices come back very quickly.

The official line

“Price reductions and low interest rates have created an improvement in affordability, which is causing the number of sales to rise to levels comparable to 2003 to 2007,” Scott Russell, REBGV president said.

“Many people who were reluctant to purchase a home last fall and earlier this year are returning to the market because they see conditions that appeal to their personal and financial needs,” Russell said. “However, the current marketplace is such that buyers are more inclined to walk if they don’t like the terms of an offer.”

Monthly Vancouver MLS Statistics - June 2009

The numbers

Sales rose significantly (+13.54%) yet again (that’s five in a row) from 1241 in May 2009 to 1409 in May. Year-over-Year this month had yet another big jump (+83.46%) over the 768 Sales in June 2008.

New listings are rising (+13.69%) on a month-to-month comparison. There were 1677 new listings in June in comparison to the 1475 in May 2009. Year-over-year there was a significant drop (-19.61%) from 2086 in June 2008 to 1677 this past month. The Sell/List ratio dropped very slightly to 84.02% (from 84.14%).

Active listings fell for the fourth straight month to 3513. This is down month-to-month (-4.36%) as well as year-over-year (-35.24%). Active Listings are at their lowest number in over a year.

The month of June 2009 saw prices rebound sharply in the Vancouver real estate market. Detached homes are up 8.27% with apartments following in the mid-3% range. Prices are still down year-over-year but they scraped back roughly half of what they’d given up.

Please Donate

On June 22nd, 2009 I broke the record for the most ascents of the Grouse Grind for charity. The Royal LePage Shelter Foundation is an incredible organization which is there to help women and children suffering from domestic abuse. Of every dollar donated, 100% goes directly to those in need (Royal LePage covers all administrative costs of the charity).

Donate to the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation

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