Change has come to the two most expensive places for detached homes in Metro Vancouver.

The West Side of Vancouver and West Vancouver are now a buyer’s market.

The shift in market conditions for single-family homes in these areas was noted in the June 2022 edition of the monthly rennie review.

Rennie is a major real-estate marketing company, which regularly comes up with market reports and analyses.

On June 6, the Straight reported that the market for detached homes in areas covered by the Greater Vancouver real-estate board has statistically become balanced.

The real-estate board reported that the sales-to-active-listings ratio for single-family homes in May 2022 shifted to 18.3 percent.

To explain, a market is balanced when the sales-to-listings ratio is between 12 percent and 20 percent.

Sellers and buyers are on an even field when the ratio sits at that range.

It is a seller’s market when the ratio goes over 20 percent, which means prices tend to go up.

It becomes a buyer’s market when the ratio comes below 12 percent, which generally leads prices to drop.

Well, rennie reported that the sales-to-listings ratio for detached homes in the West Side of Vancouver in May 2022 was down to 11 percent.

Rennie also reported that sales of single-family residences in this part of the city fell month-over-month in May by 14 percent, and were 32 percent below May 2021.

The median price in May was $3.6 million, down four percent from April and 0.6 percent above the same month last year.

Based on the market report by the Greater Vancouver real-estate board, the typical price of a detached home in the West Side of Vancouver in May 2022 was $3,490,600.

Over in West Vancouver, rennie reported that the sales-to-listings ratio for detached residences in May was 10 percent, reflecting a buyer’s market.

Also, sales fell month-over-month by 20 percent, and were 28 percent below May 2021.

The median price for detached homes in West Vancouver in May was $3.3 million, a three percent increase from April and six percent over May last year.

The Greater Vancouver real-estate board has reported that the benchmark price for single-family homes in this North Shore municipality in May was $3,475,600.

The June 2022 edition of rennie review noted that sales-to-listings ratio for detached homes in the combined markets of Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley in May 2022 was 16 percent.

This means that market conditions for single-family homes in these jurisdictions as a whole are now balanced.

It may be recalled that the Straight reported on May 11 about the edition in that month of the rennie review.

That publication suggested that the real-estate market as a whole may find itself in a balanced condition by summer.

“Maybe—just maybe—we’ll find ourselves with balanced market conditions just in time for summer,” rennie stated.

In its June 2022 edition, the rennie review suggested that what’s happening in the detached home market could extend to other segments in the market: townhomes and condos.

Rennie stated, “If the market inertia —of expanding inventory and blunted sales—that has ensconced itself in 2022 continues as we transition through the month of June (or should we say, Juneuary) and into summer, don’t be surprised if the balanced conditions currently reserved for describing the detached segment become more contagious.”