REBGV Market Update For May 2023 – The Real Estate Market Is Heating Up

Demand for housing is heating up and this was reflected in the May 2023 market report released by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV). Prices increased for the sixth consecutive month – a drastic shift from where Metro Vancouver’s market was in December 2022 when the Bank of Canada increased its lending rate.

In his monthly comments, Andrew Lis, REBGV director of economics and data analytics said, ” Back in January, few people would have predicted prices to be up as much as they are – ourselves included. Our forecast projected prices to be up modestly in 2023 by about two percent at year end. Instead, Metro Vancouver home prices are already up about six percent or more across all home types at the midway point this year.

“The fundamental issue remains that there are more buyers relative to the number of willing sellers in the market. This is keeping the amount of resale home available in short supply.”

Home Sales
Realtors registered 3,411 residential property sales in May 2023 for the region. This represented a 15.7% increase from the same period last year in which 2,947 sales were recorded, and a 1.4% decline from the 10 year seasonal average of 3,458 homes.

The number of detached properties sold was 1,043, 30.7% more than May 2022 (798 sales).
The number of apartments sold was 1,730, 7.9% more than May 2022 (1,604 sales).
The number of attached properties sold was 608, 16.7% more than May 2022 (521 sales).

Home Listings
May saw 5,661 new listings of detached, attached and apartment properties added to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in Metro Vancouver. This was a 11.5% decrease compared to the 6,397 homes listed in May 2022, and was 4.3% below the 10 year seasonal average of 5,917.

Sales-To-Active-Listings Ratio
This ratio gives a better understanding of the relationship between supply and demand in the market. Downward pressure on home prices can occur when the ratio dips below 12% for a sustained period, and home prices can experience upward pressure when the ratio is above 20% for sustained periods.

For all property types, the ratio in May 2020 was 38.4%. When broken down by property types, the ratio was:

• 28.5% for detached homes
• 45 % for townhomes
• 45.5% for condominiums

In his release, Andrew Lis also commented that prices continue to increase because there are more buyers than seller in the market, keeping resale homes in short supply.

Home Prices
For the month of May 2023, the MLS Home Price index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver was $1,188,000. This represented a 5.5% decrease over May 2022 and 1.3% increase compared to April 2023.

Click here for a full report.

The real estate landscape in Vancouver is rapidly changing. If you are buying or selling a home, you need to get in touch with an experienced real estate company such as ours to navigate this market during these unheard of times. Contact us by email or call us on 604 913 1000.