COVID-19 social-distancing measures led to April home sales dropping to a 38-year low in Metro Vancouver, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
April home sales totalled 1,109, which is a 39.5 per cent decrease from the 1,829 sales recorded in the same month last year and a 56.1 per cent decrease from the 2,524 homes sold in March.
Focusing on the Downtown Vancouver condo market in April 2020, prices haven’t changed too much but the amount of activity is significantly lower.
The under $900,000 market is selling at 23%, 53 out of 226 homes are selling, as opposed to last month’s rate of 45% or 109 out of 241 homes.
The $900,000 to $1,000,000 market is selling at 11%, 5 out of 44 homes are selling, as opposed to last month’s rate of 35% or 14 out of 40 homes.
The $1,000,000 to $1,250,000 market is selling at 8%, 5 out of 64 homes are selling, as opposed to last month’s rate of 18% or 12 out of 67 homes.
The $1,250,000 to $2,000,000 market is selling at 8%, 10 out of 126 homes are selling, as opposed to last month’s rate of 17% or 24 out of 139 homes.
The $2,000,000 to $2,500,000 market is selling at 0%, 0 out of 29 homes are selling, as opposed to last month’s rate of 13% or 4 out of 32 homes.
The $2,500,000 to $5,000,000 market is selling at 3%, 2 out of 68 homes are selling, as opposed to last month’s rate of 9% or 6 out of 70 homes.
The $5,000,000 market is selling at 0%, 0 out of 38 homes are selling, as opposed to last month’s rate of 5% as 2 out of 42 homes.
Total unit sales in Downtown Vancouver were down 56% from last month and down 25% from April 2019.
Those who are priced correctly for this market are selling on average at a rate of 13 days down from 7 days last month.
The median price decreased 1% from last month, and the median price is down 1% from April 2019.
The average price per square foot slightly increased from $1,063 in March to $1,041 in April .
Most of the active listings came on the market before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Vancouver. Listings have only decreased 6% from last month with 595 active listings but down 39% from April 2019. As Vancouver remains on lockdown, we should see listings drop more significantly next month.
As always, the sellers’ best bets are studios and 1 bedroom condos in the Downtown area. And the buyers’ best bets are Coal Harbour units, and homes priced between $1.75 and $2 million.
I hope you find this helpful, but should you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.
Stay safe!
Sincerely,
Ian