There has been a pickup in home sale activity in the Metro Vancouver housing market.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential home sales of detached, attached and apartment properties reached 2,858 in October 2019, a 45.4% increase from the 1,966 sales recorded in October 2018, and a 22.5% increase from the 2,333 homes sold in September 2019.

Sales for last month were 9.8% above the 10-year October sales average."Home buyers have more confidence today than we saw in the first half of the year," says Ashley Smith, REBGV president."With prices edging down over the last year and interest rates remaining low, hopeful home buyers are becoming more active this fall."

In October 2019, there were 4,074 attached and apartment homes newly listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Metro Vancouver. This shows a 16.4% decrease compared to 4,873 homes listed in October 2018 and a 16.3% decrease compared to September 2019 when 4,866 homes were listed.

There were 12,236 homes in Metro Vancouver that are currently listed on the MLS®, which is a 5.8% decrease compared to October 2018 (12,984). October 2019 shows the sales-to-active listing ratio for all property types at 23.4%. Based on property types, the ratio is 17.3% for detached homes, 26.2% for townhomes, and 29% for apartments.

According to analysts, a downward pressure generally occurs on home prices when the ratio dips below 12% for a sustained period, while an upward pressure on home prices occurs when it surpasses 20% over several months. "The recent uptick in home sales is moving us into a more historically typical market," Smith said. "Both sale and listing activity is trending around our long-term averages in recent months."

The MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is $992,900. This represents a decline of 6.4% compared to this time last year and an increase of 0.2% compared to last month.

Sales of detached properties on the MLS® in October 2019 reached 938, an increase of 47.3% from the 637 detached sales recorded in October 2018. The benchmark price for detached properties is $1,410,500, an increase of 0.3% compared to September 2019.

Sales of apartment properties reached 1,384 in October 2019, a 40.5% increase compared to 985 sales in October 2018. The benchmark price of an apartment property is $652,500, an increase of 0.2% compared to September 2019.

Attached property sales in October 2019 totaled 536, a 55.8% increase compared to the 344 sales in October 2018. The benchmark price of an attached unit is $771,600, an increase of 0.5% when compared to September 2019.

Download October 2019 stats package