October 2009 Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver MLS Statistics

Monthly Vancouver MLS Statistics - October 2009

Upward Pressure Continues

October 2009 ended up being another stellar month in the Vancouver real estate market. We’ve become accustomed to seeing strong results this year, and October was no exception. Demand remained strong while supply shrank and the result was that prices were pushed higher.

However, while to date there had been no signs of the market slowing down. I do believe that we will see a seasonal pullback in sales beginning in November and leading us through December.

Our market continues to be driven by first-time buyers, pent-up demand and low interest rates. I believe that the majority of first-time buyers that were waiting through the downturn to make a purchase have done so. With signs of strength returning to the economy, we should also begin seeing upward pressure on interest rates.

For these reasons I expect we will not continue to see prices skyrocket. During the middle of 2009 there was significant and rapid price appreciation in Vancouver real estate. I don’t believe this will continue and while prices will continue to increase, they will do so at a more modest rate heading into 2010.

The official line

“While home prices have been rising in 2009, they have not eclipsed the peaks reached in early 2008,” Scott Russell, Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) president said. “We’re coming off several months of unseasonably high sales levels, which has allowed for a gradual increase in home values this year,”

“High confidence and low mortgage rates are continuing to drive the activity we’re seeing in the housing market today,” Russell said.

The numbers

For the fourth time in the last seven months we had an increase in Sales (+6.09%) from 1166 to 1237. Unsurprisingly, this was a huge 205% increase over the 405 Sales in October 2008. The majority of the strength in Sales came on the Westside where they increase 10% month over month versus a slight decline of <1% on the Eastside.

New Listings fell (-10.05%) to 1709 from 1900 (month to month). This was the third time in the last four months that they fell. Year over year, there was an increase (+6.75%) to 1709 from 1601. The decline in New Listings was strongest on the Eastside (-17.07%) vs the Westside (-6.35%).

After seeing recent rises in both the Months of Supply and Active Listings numbers, October saw both of these fall. Active Listings fell very slightly (-0.72%) to 3331 from 3355. Meanwhile the Months of Supply dropped (-5.88%) to 2.67 from 2.84.

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