Greater Vancouver home sales drop for second straight month

The REBGV has reported that the “composite benchmark price” for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver was $620,600 last month. That’s up 1.7 percent over the previous year, but down 0.7 percent from May 2012. The REBGV does not include Langley and Surrey, which are part of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.

There were 2,362 sales of detached, attached, and apartment properties in the REBGV last month, which was a 27.6-percent drop from June 2011. Last month’s sales volume was 32.2 percent below the 10-year average for the month.

The board’s president, Eugen Klein, put a positive spin on the numbers in a July 4 news release. “Overall conditions have trended in favour of buyers in our marketplace in recent months,” he said. “This means buyers are facing less competition and have more selection to choose from compared to earlier in the year.”

The sales-to-active-listings ratio has fallen to 13 percent, according to the REBGV, which is down from 19 percent in March. When the ratio falls, it means a greater percentage of homes on the market are being bought, which can, over time, put upward pressure on prices.

Last month, the benchmark price for an apartment on the East Side of Vancouver reached $313,400, up 0.9 percent from May 2012. On the West Side of Vancouver, the benchmark price last month for an apartment was $477,000, down 0.1 percent from the previous month. In Burnaby East, the benchmark price of an apartment was $366,500, compared to $340,900 in Burnaby North, and $379,600 in Burnaby South. New Westminster’s benchmark price for an apartment was $275,000 in June. In North Vancouver, the benchmark price was $352,200, which was slightly higher than the $350,000 benchmark price in Richmond. Last month, the lowest apartment price in the REBGV was $178,900 in Maple Ridge.