Article content continued
“Downtown is a different world,” said Vancouver realtor Ian Watt, who quoted the figures about downtown from SnapStats Publishing. “Metrotown, Brentwood (in Burnaby), Richmond and Surrey can just keep oversupplying demand. But how many more can they build in Yaletown?”
Vancouver realtor Steve Saretsky said in his latest report that across Metro Vancouver, condo sales were up 13 per cent year-over-year, but “the problem … continues to be the persistent strength in new listings.”
“While sales remain quite strong, new listings remain even stronger,” he wrote. “This has created a scenario where inventory levels remain at a six-year high for the month of November.”
Considering the low number of listings during the previous years that drove intense price gains, Saretsky says having the current 4.2 months of supply of listings to sell could be seen as a healthier balance.
It is still enough inventory to push down prices. In November, the average condo sold price per square foot tipped into negative territory, falling 0.5 per cent year-on-year.
Saretsky said reports about positive price increases in the condo market are based on the MLS benchmark price, “which is a lagging indicator.”
The benchmark price of a condo in November, as reported by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, was $676,500, which represents a 3.4-per-cent year-on-year increase and a one-per-cent decrease from the previous month.
“There is no question the condo market has been undergoing a modest price correction since the pandemic,” wrote Saretsky.
