Market Highlights For February 2024

Let there be listings

  • Buyers continue to show up! Number of sales in Greater Vancouver were up 45% from January
  • Sellers starting to show up, the number of new listings were up 20% from January
  • Bank of Canada continues the holding pattern on its rate – fixed rates declining
  • Sales in West Vancouver up 143% compared to January

At the mid-point of February, this month was as much a dark horse to hit 2,000 sales in Greater Vancouver as Billy Mack was to hit the #1 Christmas Song in Love Actually… and like this movie being 20 years old, the sales and new listings amounts feel like they are from 20 years ago. Lack of buyer and seller engagement continues to be one of the significant stories in the market. And as we’ve said before, Metro Vancouver real estate doesn’t have a speculation problem, it has a holding problem. Buyers are holding real estate and not turning into sellers which results in significantly less homes available for other buyers to purchase. But government policy continues to go after the demand side instead of encouraging supply from the existing home stock. Expecting new home construction to fill the void isn’t enough nor realistic.

With the Bank of Canada holding their rate at 5% at the latest meeting this morning, and with the U.S. holding at 5.5% so far this year, the wait continues as to when we might see the first rate cut. The sentiment is that it’s coming. Canadian and U.S. inflation is showing signs of easing, and with the Canadian economy showing signs of weakness, logic would say that rates should be coming down sooner rather than later. Employment numbers remain relatively flat though which isn’t helping in the obvious decision. Canada will likely wait for our neighbours to the south to make the first move, which may come in June when the U.S. has its more in-depth policy decision meeting.

There were 2,070 properties sold in Greater Vancouver in February after, 1,427 properties sold in January this year. This was a 13% increase from the 1,824 properties sold last year in February. Even with one more day in February this year, there were 103.5 sales per day compared to 96 sales per day last year. So, we can’t fully thank the extra day in the leap year for a better February. There is more buyer engagement. The latter half of the month certainly produced more sales, with the last week of the month showing 116 sales per day. A sign the real estate market is continuing to show more activity. This was also the first month where total sales were over 2,000 since August of last year as the fall suffered the fate of two summer interest rate increases by the Bank of Canada. Optimism is gaining in the market as buyers simply need to move on – literally.

With this increase in activity, sales in February were 23% below the 10-year average, after sales in January were 22% below the 10-year average with sales in December 37% below the 10-year average and November’s sales at 35% below the 10-year average. We’re still within a slower moving market, and with a few more listings coming on this month, buyers were given opportunity. And moving forward, they should take advantage of it. February isn’t traditionally a strong month for sales, so expect March to produce more sales, even with spring break in the middle of it.

With the increase sales, we saw a drop to 5 months supply of homes overall in Greater Vancouver, falling back from 6 months in January and 7 months supply in December. Vancouver’s West Side dropped down to 6 months supply from 8 in January and Vancouver’s East Side declined to 4 months (a technical seller’s market) from 6 months in January. Vancouver saw fewer new listings in February compared to other areas of the region, while sales were up 53% compared to January on the West Side and 52% on the East Side. West Vancouver produced twice as many sales in February, bringing months supply down to 9 from 21. Detached sales in each of these cities showing more growth than the other sectors, signalling the upper end of the market is coming back perhaps. The perpetually under supplied North Vancouver dropped down to 3 months supply with condos there at 2 months supply. Further east, Burnaby and beyond have 4 months supply of homes available, with the Tri-Cities down to 3 months supply. Maple Ridge is the anomaly with 5 months supply after significant increase in new listings – up 92% compared to February last year and to 54% compared to January. Active listing counts are up 47% compared to this time last year. Buyers, Maple Ridge is where the opportunities are!

Even with the extra day in the month, we only saw 4,651 new listings in Greater Vancouver. This was well above last year’s total of 3,559 new listings, so that’s a good sign that sellers are coming back, perhaps in response to an uptick in buyer activity. Multiple offers have been occurring in the market more than last fall, an encouraging sign for those sellers that were afraid to enter a quiet market.

The challenge of giving up lower mortgage rates continues for many homeowners through, unwilling to enter a higher mortgage rate to make a move. As renewals begin over the next few months and years and as rates start to come down, we’ll see this pent-up supply start to release more into the market. For some sellers, it may be better to take advantage of a lack of listings now and come on the market and work with a mortgage professional to find the right rate for now in anticipation of lower rates in the next few years. Date the rate and marry the house as they say.

The number of new listings in January were right at the 10-year average, which is an improvement from January where they were 13% below the average and December with the number of new listings in that month being 25% below the 10-year average.

There were 9,634 active listings in Greater Vancouver at month end, after there being 8,633 active listings in Greater Vancouver at the end of January and 8,283 at the end of February 2023. The detached market overall has come down to 6 months supply from 8, putting it into balanced market territory. Townhomes remain at 4 months supply and condos dropped to 4 months supply from 5 – putting both into seller market conditions. Depending on price point and area though, some may be more in balanced market conditions. Absorption rates for detached were 39% for the month while townhouses and condos were at 48% and 47% respectively. All segments saw lower absorption rates compared to last year in February, because of more new listings this year. As a result, we are seeing a gain in the active listing counts. This could bring more buyers to the market, again, a good sign for sellers.

Will March be the lion or the lamb in the real estate market. With a sizable increase in both sales and new listings in February compared to the previous month, will March continue down that path. After the provincial budget was announced, buyers and sellers will continue to navigate an incredible amount of policy changes by government, with an anti-flipping tax of 20% to start in 2025 introduced by the BC NDP. The likely effect of this in the years to come will be a reduced number of listings as sellers hold on to properties more than they already are. Perhaps we’ll see a push to sell before 2024 ends though. Increased thresholds for the Property Transfer Tax exemptions starting April 1st will help those buyers purchasing up to $835,000 for resale and up to $1.1 million for newly constructed homes. The first-time homebuyer incentive has been discontinued at the federal level, much to the dismay of Dawson Creek which was the only region of B.C. where the program worked. Goodbye to bad legislation. Unfortunately, that was not the same for the Foreign Buyer Ban as the Federal Liberals announced a further two-year extension on that program which will now run until the end of 2026. All of which do not help but hinder supply of homes, which is the biggest challenge in the housing market, ironically identified by the government too. Too bad policy doesn’t align with reality.

Here’s a summary of the numbers:

Greater Vancouver: Total Units Sold in February were 2,070 – up from 1,427 (45%) in January, up from 1,345 (54%) in December up from 1,824 (13%) in February 2023, down from 3,451 (40%) in February 2022, down from 3,852 (47%) in February 2021, down from 2,185 (5%) in February 2020, up from 1,512 (40%) in February 2019; Active Listings were at 9,634 at month end compared to 8,283 at that time last year and 8,633 at the end of January; New Listings in February were up 20% compared to January 2024, up 9% compared to February 2023, down 10% compared to February 2022, down 10% compared to February 2021, up 13% compared to February 2020, and up 17% compared to February 2019. Month’s supply of total residential listings is down to 5 month’s supply (balanced market conditions) and sales to listings ratio of 45% compared to 37% in January 2024, 51% in February 2023, 62% in February 2022, and 38% in February 2019. Month-over-month, the house price index is up 1.9% and in the last 6 months down 2.1%. Prices appear to be on the upswing after several months of seeing them decline through the fall.

For other regions, contact Berna Yazgan

İlhan Ömeroğluİlhan Ömeroğlu
19:23 08 Oct 24
Ms. Berna has managed our house rental process very well with her meticulous, devoted, patient and positive approach from the first day. She has always been there for us by sharing her experiences and experience in our other needs related to social life. Our family would like to thank her and express our gratitude.
Zeynep KabaağaçZeynep Kabaağaç
03:08 05 Oct 24
Ms. Berna was extremely caring and helped us in everything. She found the exact place we wanted and thanks to her, our rental process was much more comfortable and faster. Endless thanks to her.
Özgen YamanÖzgen Yaman
01:43 04 Oct 24
It's been about 15 days since my wife and I came to Vancouver. The visa application process was very difficult, we were extremely tired. When our visas were issued, we were afraid of how we would find a house this time. Thanks to forums and social media, we were very scared at first. We met Ms. Berna while we were in Turkey through our consultant. He was incredibly helpful, incredibly descriptive, and so warm and friendly. Thanks to you, we learned about all the procedures here. He not only took care of our house finding process, but also helped us endlessly regarding our arrival and what we needed to do when we arrived. We even received information from him for our own private affairs. Now we have a very cute house and a sweet landlord, thanks to us. He waited for us at our house as soon as we got off the field. So that we can get through our first day comfortably. We miss him now and can't wait to drink coffee. Thank you very much for your interest, Ms. Berna. As Yaman Family, we love you very much. Ms. Berna is our only advice to anyone who reads this comment about finding a house/real estate. Endless thanks again. Gift Özgen & Volkan Yaman
Kerim ŞahinbaşKerim Şahinbaş
16:32 24 Sep 24
Berna is very proffessional and helped us through in our move in process. She found us a beautiful unit near the sea in a very short time. I strongly recommend her services.
Liya OzsoylerLiya Ozsoyler
08:40 24 Sep 24
Kind, caring, sincere and professional. She helped us find our new home on the second day of our research which was pretty amazing. I would definitely recommend Berna’s services, you won’t be disappointed.
Deniz UralDeniz Ural
19:20 22 Aug 24
I had a great experience working with Berna virtually to find an apartment in downtown Vancouver. Despite the challenges of a virtual search, she found the perfect place that met all my requirements. Her detailed videos, thorough descriptions, and honest opinions made the process smooth and reassuring. She worked tirelessly to present numerous options, was always prompt in her responses, and maintained a high level of professionalism. I’m thrilled with my new home and highly recommend her services to anyone looking for their ideal place.
sıla tosunsıla tosun
22:13 07 Jul 24
Ms. Berna Yazgan guided us through house tours while my husband and I were still in Istanbul, perfectly aligning with our expectations and preferences for our new home. With her expertise, we found an exceptional 1-bedroom apartment in Yaletown's high-rise, surpassing all our hopes. Her support throughout the entire process was invaluable. We couldn't be more grateful.
Hulya TosunHulya Tosun
18:54 07 Jun 24
We were extremely pleased with Berna Yazgan's service. She quickly understood our requirements and showed us properties that met our needs, effectively saving us a significant amount of time. Throughout the entire process, Berna provided unwavering support and guidance. We are delighted with our new home and know that we could not have found it without her assistance.
Vldn B.Vldn B.
07:18 04 May 24
We realised the comfort of working with Berna when we came to Canada. I am glad we found and met with her. She lightened our moving with her kindness, sincerity and tolerance, not only renting a house also in every question that she can help. Our house was ready before we arrived and with Berna's support, we are in a home exactly what we want. Both location and home. We are very grateful for understanding our lifestyle without seeing us and providing this. I'm glad we got to know her————
Tuğba AkdenizTuğba Akdeniz
22:02 03 May 24
First of all, Berna is a really, really good person. Why am I saying this because she drew us a road map when it was a few months before we came to Canada, and we contacted her a month before. We have a baby, she not only showed us the most suitable houses for us, but also visited those houses tirelessly and added her personal comments, saying if it was good, it was good, if it was bad, it was bad. Moreover, she always gave her true opinion about the houses we liked but should not have. The most important point for us was that she found beds suitable for our child and sent them a link, and when the time came, she found a job for us and shared the link on LinkedIn. I think we are one of the lucky people to have loved our house very much and to have met Berna before coming to Canada. She always shared with us the links we needed for the house we rented, including electricity, water and internet, and we would like to thank her for always being accessible. I'm glad fate brought you to us, thank you. We deeply appreciated her 🙏🏽🎈❤️
Ece OkuyucuEce Okuyucu
17:35 27 Apr 24
Berna is extremely professional and a wonderful person. While helping us find our new home, she cared as if she were searching for a home for herself, not just a client. She provided advice on the best options considering the market conditions and our financial situation, while also making an extraordinary effort to find a home we would be happy living in. She would show homes over video calls and, in cases of time differences, she would send detailed videos, asking questions about the home that we might never have thought of ourselves. Moving to a new country can be psychologically challenging, and it's easy to panic and start settling for less. Here, Berna's friendship and experience really stand out. With her proper guidance, she helps ease your anxiety, encouraging you to continue searching until you find the perfect ending. Working with Berna was an amazing experience.
Ümmühan KahramanÜmmühan Kahraman
18:46 12 Apr 24
We met Ms. Berna upon her recommendation and reached her through social media, then we immediately made an appointment and started the house hunting process. She was patient from the beginning to the end of our process and helped us find the home that best suited our needs. Not only about the house, but also for our new move from Turkey to Vancouver, she did her best to help us handle many of our jobs remotely, and apart from finding a house, I really loved her energy and friendliness. I'm glad we got to know you, Ms. Berna, thank you very much.
Dilek KacarDilek Kacar
07:41 07 Apr 24
We worked with Berna when we were trying to find our first home and she was so helpful and quick in action. Finally, we’ve bought our first home in GVA and we can’t thank her enough for her help and effort. She is detail-oriented and friendly. She also keeps helping us after we close the sale and answering our questions and finding the solution. We highly recommend her for anyone who is looking for their dream home.
G BG B
20:27 26 Jun 23
Berna is a great consultant. We were very worried as we came from Turkey. It was very valuable for us to feel your support regarding our concerns and expectations. She did a great job helping us rent the house we wanted. Thank you for helping us get off to a good start in our new life.
js_loader

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *