The REBGV says it’s not hard to wonder what the 2023 market would have looked like if mortgage rates had been a few per cent lower
Metro Vancouver’s housing market closed out 2023 with balanced market conditions, but the year-end totals mask a story of surprising resilience in the face of the highest borrowing costs seen in over a decade.
That’s according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver’s (REBGV) report for December 2023, which notes that residential sales in the region in 2023 saw a 10.3 per cent decrease from the sales recorded in 2022, and a 41.5 per cent decrease from the sales in 2021.
Last year’s sales total was also 23.4 per cent below the 10-year annual sales average.
The REBGV notes that, instead of a decline, the year ended with five per cent-plus gains in home prices across all market segments. Sellers were reluctant to list their properties early in the year, which led to fewer sales than usual and led to near record-low inventory levels in the spring, which put upward pressure on prices.
Sales of detached homes in December 2023 did see a 1.3 per cent increase from the detached sales recorded in December 2022.
According to the REBGV, the benchmark price of a single-detached house in Ladner last month was $1,387,000. That figure is up just under one per cent from November 2023 and up 7.1 per cent compared to December 2022.
The benchmark price for a detached single-family house in Tsawwassen in December 2023 was $1.567,500, down 1.4 per cent from the previous month but up 8.8 per cent compared to December 2022.
The benchmark price last month for a townhouse in Ladner and Tsawwassen was $936,500 and $939,300 respectively. The benchmark price was also up 9.4 per cent and 3.7 per cent respectively compared to December 2022.
The benchmark price last month for a condo in Ladner and Tsawwassen was $713,400 and $688,400 respectively, both up just under seven per cent from the previous year.