As inventory increases and prices of all property types drop, real estate in Metro Vancouver is shifting.
What does this mean for the long-term implications in one of North America’s most expensive housing markets? Will prices keep falling? Is this temporary? Will prices skyrocket again?
Across Metro Vancouver, numerous properties that haven’t been able to attract buyers have seen price reductions for detached homes, condos, and townhomes.
Additionally, last month, buyer demand increased quite a bit compared to October 2023.
“October sales numbers suggest buyers may finally be responding to lower borrowing costs after waiting on the sidelines for months,” said Greater Vancouver Realtors in last month’s report.
There were 2,632 residential property sales in October 2024, compared to 1,996 in October 2023, a 31.9% increase.
The Bank of Canada had some role to play in the rebound.
“To some market watchers, this rebound may come as a surprise, but with four consecutive rate cuts from the Bank of Canada – and more likely to come on the horizon – it was only a matter of time until signs of renewed strength in demand showed up.”
More homes (+16.9%) were also listed this October compared to last year.
Greater Vancouver Realtors cautions against too much optimism.
“Recent data shows that market conditions have been decidedly balanced, with prices easing over the past few months. With the recent uptick in sales however, the attached and apartment segments are now tilting toward a seller’s market with the detached segment not far behind, suggesting the recent period of price moderation may be nearing an end.”
We spoke to property manager Keaton Bessey, who focuses on the Metro Vancouver rental market.
“What is very likely happening is that more people are trying to sell with high expectations when there are less and less people interested in buying as economic outlooks are soft, the price of a five-year mortgage is not coming down, and the quality of most properties on the market are not great.”
Ryan Dash, who works with eXp and is one of the people behind the Vancouver Life Real Estate Podcast, also had some thoughts on the current real estate climate.
“We’re getting to a place where things are going to get a bit more interesting.”
Dash said there’s been a bit of a stalemate, as everyone thought buyers would flood the market after rates went down. Instead, sellers flooded the market. “They wanted to sell and move on and a lot of sellers that wanted to sell a year ago chose not to because interest rates were so high.”
After that, inventory wasn’t moving, and sellers kept flooding the market with housing supply.
“We’ve seen a lot of buyers sit on the sidelines, and they’re letting sellers compete. Sellers are lowering their prices to try and make buyers come and put a deal together.”
Dash mentioned a deal he was part of in Yaletown for a property listed for around $1.1 million. He said he was able to negotiate a drop of around $90,000 from the list price because the buyer had so many different options.
“I had all the leverage.”
Dash also told Daily Hive that’s a common reality in the Vancouver real estate market right now. For anyone hoping for prices to fall even lower, Dash doesn’t think that’s going to happen, at least not to a huge degree.
“You’re not going to see a return to pandemic-level pricing, or pandemic-level strategies, or pandemic-level stories.”
He added that interest rates would have to drop to the basement for that to happen.
“Ultimately, it would be great if we could just return to a more sustainable marketplace.”
What’s your experience in the market like right now?