Buyer competition heats up in Vancouver, home prices post 7% increase in February
Sean MacKay
Livabl
Photo: Chloe Evans / Unsplash
With spring just around the corner, home sales surged across the Vancouver region last month.
A total of 3,727 homes changed hands in February, up 73.3 percent from the same month in 2020, according to data published today by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV). Buyers who purchased a home last month were faced with a fiercely competitive market as demand continued to outpace supply.
The intensity of the competition pushed home prices up by nearly seven percent annually and 2.6 percent compared to January.
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“Metro Vancouver’s housing market is experiencing seller’s market conditions. The supply of listings for sale isn’t keeping up with the demand we’re seeing. Competition amongst home buyers is causing upward pressure on home prices,” said REBGV Chair Colette Gerber.
“This is particularly true in the townhome market where demand is outstripping the available supply,” she added.
From a historical standpoint, it was also an exceptionally strong month for home sales. February’s transactions total was nearly 43 percent higher than the 10-year average for the month. It also represented a significant ramp up compared to the previous month. February 2021 beat out January’s sales total by more than 1,300 units.
Gerber pointed to low mortgage rates as the main driver for the strong activity, with first-time buyers and move-up buyers both jumping into the market.
Supply on the market couldn’t keep up with the surging buyer demand. While new listings increased in February by 26.1 percent annually, sales recorded an annual increase that was nearly three times that. The total number of homes listed for sale in the Vancouver region last month was more than 21 percent below the 10-year average for February.
As competition among buyers ratcheted up, the benchmark price for a single-detached home in the Vancouver region jumped 13.7 percent annually to $1,621,000. The region’s condo market recorded a relatively modest 2.5 percent increase in benchmark price to $697,500.
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