Metro Vancouver housing market sees July slowdown in demand

It looks like Metro Vancouver’s housing market has started a new chapter — one brought on by less demand and a slow increase in supply.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says residential home sales dropped by 43.3 per cent in July compared to the same time last year.

“Home buyers are exercising more caution in today’s market in response to rising interest rates and inflationary concerns,” said Daniel John, REBGV Chair.

“This allowed the selection of homes for sale to increase and prices to edge down in the region over the last three months.”

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The board says last month’s sales were 35.2 per cent below the 10-year sales average for the overall month of July.

While there were fewer newly listed detached, attached, and apartment properties listed in July 2022 compared to the same time last year and the month prior, the REBGV says the total number of listings on the MLS system in Metro Vancouver currently represents a 4.4 per cent increase compared to July 2021. The total number of homes listed was down slightly compared to June 2022.

“After two years of market conditions that favoured home sellers, home buyers now have more selection to choose from and more time to make their decision,” John said.

Meanwhile, the composite benchmark price for all residential property types in the region, which includes Burnaby, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond, South Delta, Squamish, Sunshine Coast, Vancouver, West Vancouver, and Whistler, was $1,207,400 last month — a 10.3 per cent increase over the same month last year. That figure was down 2.3 per cent compared to June 2022.

“In today’s changing housing market, both home buyers and sellers should invest the time to understand what these changes mean for their personal circumstances.”