THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 2016
VANCOUVER EASTSIDE
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Home Sales Down in 60% of Canadian Markets, Mirroring BC’s Trend: CREA N
ational home sales fell 2.9 per cent year over year and by 1.3 per cent since June, according to Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) figures released August 15. Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley saw the biggest declines, but the CREA reported that sales were down from levels one year earlier in about 60 per cent of all Canadian markets, with Calgary and Edmonton following on the heels of the Lower Mainland markets. Despite this, the national MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) rose 14.3 per cent yearover-year in July and the national average sale price climbed 9.9 per cent from one year ago to $480,743. “Home sales continued to trend lower while price gains further accelerated in the
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Lower Mainland of British Columbia,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s chief economist. “This suggests that sales are being reined in by a lack of inventory and a further deterioration in affordability. “The new 15 per cent property transfer tax on Metro Vancouver home purchases by foreign buyers took effect on August 2, so it will take some time before the effect of the new tax on sales and prices can be observed. That said, the new tax will do little in the short term to increase the supply of homes.” Across BC July home sales across the whole of BC fell a modest 3.4 per cent year over year, according to British Columbia Real Estate Association figures released
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August 11 – far less steeply than in the major centres of Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. “Housing demand has moderated in many regions of the province, after setting records earlier in the year,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA chief economist. “The less frenetic pace of home sales will likely provide a much needed boost to the inventory of homes for sale. The rate of home price appreciation is also expected to slow from the unsustainable level exhibited this spring.” Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, which last week reported sales declines of 18.3 and 10.4 per cent respectively, dragged down BC’s overall figures, offsetting significant year-over-year home sales increases in Victoria, Vancouver
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Island and the Okanagan. Broken down by area, out of the major centres (where the statistics are less volatile), the Okanagan Mainline board reported the largest year-over-year increase in home sales, up 25.1 per cent over last July to 1,042 transactions. This was followed by Victoria, up 21.3 per cent to 922 sales, and Vancouver Island, up 18.9 per cent to 1,030 units. Despite the slight overall sales decline across the province, average prices in BC were up 9.1 per cent year over year to $663,411, resulting in the total dollar volume of home sales in July rising 5.4 per cent on an annual basis to just short of $6.6 billion. However, this figure was an uncharacteristic decline over June 2016’s $694,925 average price.
Editorial: Policymakers, Beware Side-Effects of Affordability Measures