Inventory levels in the Greater Vancouver real estate market is currently at a high not seen since 2020 and the same can be said for the Fraser Valley real estate market.
According to statistics published by the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) on Thursday, the amount of active listings in the market is currently at 7,313, which represents an 18% increase from March, a 17% increase from the 10-year average for April, and a total not seen since September 2020.
The total was bolstered by the 3,976 new listings that came online in April.
Demand, however, was not as strong, with the region recording a total of 1,471 sales in April, which is 5% higher than March, but 5% lower than April 2023.
"There is a lot of caution in the market right now," said FVREB CEO Baldev Gill. "Buyers are hesitant to purchase a home until the Bank of Canada lowers its rate."
Buyers or Sellers
The aforementioned statistics allow us to identify the sales-to-new-listing ratio as well as the sales-to-active-listings ratio, which are two quantitative indicators that can give us a sense of whether the market is currently leaning towards buyers or sellers.
For the sales-to-new-listings ratio, a ratio of 40% or lower is considered a buyers' market, a ratio of 55% or higher is considered a sellers' market, and anything in between is considered a sign of market balance.
With 1,471 home sales and 3,976 new listings in April, the sales-to-new-listings ratio is now at 36.9% after being at 46.7% after March, indicating movement towards buyers that reflects the inventory surge, which gives buyers in the market more options.
For the sales-to-active-listings ratio, 12% or lower is viewed as a buyers' market, 20% or over is viewed as a sellers' market, and anything in between is viewed as a balanced market.
With 1,471 home sales and 7,313 total active listings after April, the sales-to-active-listings ratio is now at 20.1% after being at 22.5% following March, which again indicates movement towards favouring buyers.
Prices and Outlook
At the end of April, the benchmark price was $1,532,700 for single-family homes, $854,700 for townhouses, and $561,900 for condominiums.
All three represent increases of between 0.9% and 1.2% when compared to March 2024 and increases of between 4.9% and 5.7% when compared to April 2023.
A cooler market may not be a bad thing, at least for prospective buyers.
"We are seeing a relatively calm and balanced market right now," said FVREB Chair Jeff Chadha. "Which means buyers have time to shop around and purchase a home without the pressure of a few years ago, and while prices are holding fairly steady across all property types."
There are some signs that activity is picking up, however. In terms of the average number of days a property spends on the market, single-family homes are down from 27 days to 23 days, townhouses are down from 20 days to 19 days, and condominiums are down from 26 days to 23 days.
