REBGV Market Update For April 2023 – Housing Market Is Mounting A Surprising Comeback

The April 2023 market report released by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) clearly shows that prices remain high as supply remains low, even with record mortgage rate hikes.

“The fact that we are seeing prices rising and sales rebounding this spring tells us home buyers are returning with confidence after a challenging year for our market, with mortgage rates roughly doubling,” Andrew Lis, REBGV director of economics and data analytics said. “The latest MLS HPI data show home prices have already increased about five percent year-to-date, which already outpaces our forecast of one to two percent by year end. The year is far from over, however, and it remains to be seen if these price increases will be sustained into 2024.”

Home Sales

In April 2023, there were 2,471 residential property sales. This represented a 16.5% decrease from the 3,218 sales in April 2022 and 15.6% below the 10 year seasonal average (3,249).

The number of detached properties sold was 808, 16.3% less than the 965 sales recorded in April 2022.

The number of apartments sold was 1,413, 16.5% less than the 1,693 sales recorded in April 2022.

The number of attached properties sold was 500, 13.5% less than the 578 sales recorded in April 2022.

Home Listings

There were 4,307 new listings of detached, attached and apartment properties for April 2023. This represented a 29.7% decrease compared to the 6,128 homes listed in April 2022 and a was 22% below the 10 year seasonal average of 5,525 homes.

The total number of homes listed for sale on the MLS system in April was 8,790. This represented a 4.2% decrease when compared to the 9,716 listed in April 2022, and 20.9% below the 11,117 10 year seasonal average.

Sales-To-Active-Listings Ratio

This is a good indication of the supply and demand forces in the market. Downward pressure on home prices can occur when the ratio is below 12% for a sustained period, and there is upward pressure when the ratio is above 20% for a number of months.

For all property types, the ratio in April was 32.7%. When broken down by property types, the ratio was:

• 24.4% for detached homes
• 40.1% for townhomes
• 37.4% for condos

It is interesting to note Andrew Lis’s comment regarding prices: “When we released our market forecast in January, we were the only organization taking the contrarian view that prices were likely to appreciate in 2023.”

Home Prices

The MLS Home Price index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver was $1,170,700 in April. This was 7.4% lower than April 2022 and 2.3% higher than March 2022.

Click here for a full report.

Working with our real estate professionals will enable you to set realistic expectations that help you achieve your real estate goals. If you are looking to buy or sell a home, contact us by email or call us on 604 695 1000.