Unless you’re reading old newspapers, the dominating headline for the real estate market that most of Metro Vancouver has become familiar with is that prices are on the decline. While it hasn’t been the ‘crash’ that the extreme naysayers always talk about, it’s no secret that the market is in a slide and has seen a gradual, but significant decline over the past twelve months.
The overall condo market peaked in January 2018 with regards to average sale prices. At that time, the average sale price for a condo in Greater Vancouver was a shade over $751,000. Looking at the June 2019 statistics, the average sale price of a condo in Greater Vancouver is now just under $644,000, which is a substantial 14.3% decline from peak pricing.
Now of course, not all cities are created equal. Let’s take a deeper look into which of the Lower Mainland’s regions have the best deals to offer and which have held strong throughout the shift.
Average Sales Price from Peak Value to Current (June 2019)
Average Sales Price Decline % by City
As a general rule of thumb, the higher the peak price, the greater the decline. The steepest drop-off has been witnessed in Vancouver, led by the luxury condominiums in Downtown, Olympic Village, and other freehold waterfront locations. When looking at the Coquitlam and New Westminster markets, it’s noticeable that prices have seen an under 10% drop off. It is also worth noting that the average price decline is more pronounced in the two and three bedroom sector of condominium data versus one-bedroom.
So where do we go from here? With the exception of May this year, all months have been indicative of a prolonged period of stability and potential decline. Our trends have shown that a sudden crash is highly unlikely. However, it is likely that overall, we will look back at 2019 as a year where the market softened noticeably.
If you have any questions about real estate in the Lower Mainland, you can email me anytime at adil@adilkhimani.com.
Thank you for reading,
Adil