As the spring buying season approaches, Metro Vancouver’s housing market continues to exhibit weakness with buyers firmly in control.

February’s data from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver shows a 32.8% drop in sales year-over-year to 1,484, more than 42% below the 10-year average for the month. Sales were up 34.5% compared to January.

Detached home sales were down 27.9% year-over-year to 448, apartment sales fell 35.9% to 759, and attached home sales were down 30.9% to 277.

“For much of the past four years, we’ve been in a sellers’ market. Conditions have shifted over the last 12 months to favour buyers, particularly in the detached home market,” Phil Moore, REBGV president said. “This means that home buyers face less competition today, have more selection to choose from and more time to make their decisions.”

Although new listings eased– by 7.8% year-over-year and by 19.7% month-over-month (3,892) – inventory remained elevated with 11,590 homes on the MLS, 48.2% above February 2018 and 7.2% higher than in January 2019.

Prices eased
Home prices in Metro Vancouver were down in February with the benchmark MLS price at $1,016,600, down 6.1% year-over-year and down 0.3% from January.

For detached homes, the benchmark was $1,443,100, down 9.7% year-over-year; for apartments it was $660,300, down 4%; and for attached homes it was $789,300, down 3.3%.

“Homes priced well for today’s market are attracting interest, however, buyers are choosing to take a wait-and-see approach for the time being,” Moore said. “Realtors continue to experience more traffic at open houses. We’ll see if this trend leads to increased sales activity during the spring market.”