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REBGV Reports: Metro Vancouver Demonstrated Resilience and Concluded 2023 in Balance

The Metro Vancouver housing market concluded 2023 on a resilient and balanced note, despite the backdrop of borrowing costs at a ten-year high.

Andrew Lis, REBGV’s director of economics and data analytics, observes, “You could miss it by just looking at the year-end totals, but 2023 was a strong year for the Metro Vancouver housing market considering that mortgage rates were the highest they’ve been in over a decade.”

Lis further explains, “Ultimately, the story of 2023 is one of too few homes available relative to the pool of willing and qualified buyers. Sellers were reluctant to list their properties early in the year, which led to fewer sales than usual coming out of the gate. But this also led to near record-low inventory levels in the spring, which put upward pressure on prices as buyers competed for the scarce few homes available.”

In terms of sales in 2023, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reported that the region witnessed 26,249 transactions, a decrease of 10.3 per cent from 2022’s 29,261 sales and a significant drop of 41.5 per cent from 2021’s 44,884 sales. These figures were also 23.4 per cent below the 10-year annual sales average of 34,272.

Regarding listings in 2023, the total number of MLS listings in Metro Vancouver was 50,893. This was 7.5 per cent lower than the 55,047 properties listed in 2022 and 20.2 per cent less than 2021’s 63,761 listed properties. The 2023 listings were also 10.5 per cent below the region’s 10-year total annual average of 56,868.

For December sales, residential transactions in Metro Vancouver amounted to 1,345 in December 2023, a slight increase of 3.2 per cent from the 1,303 sales in December 2022, but still 36.4 per cent below the 10-year seasonal average of 2,114.

The benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver stood at $1,168,700, marking a five per cent increase from December 2022 and a 1.4 per cent decrease from November 2023.

In terms of December listings, the total number of Metro Vancouver properties listed for sale on MLS was 8,802, a 13 per cent increase from December 2022’s 7,791 listings and a marginal 0.3 per cent increase from the 10-year seasonal average of 8,772.

There were 1,327 detached, attached and apartment properties newly listed for sale on Metro Vancouver’s MLS in the last month of the year, a 9.9 per cent increase from the 1,208 properties listed the previous year, but 22.7 per cent below the 10-year seasonal average of 1,716.

The sales-to-active listings ratio for December across all property types was 16 per cent (11.1 per cent for detached homes, 18.7 per cent for attached homes and 19.6 per cent for apartments).

Reflecting on the year, Lis notes, “Looking back on the year, it’s hard not to wonder how we’d be closing out 2023 if mortgage rates had been a few per cent lower than they were. And it looks like we might get some insight into that question in 2024, as bond markets and professional forecasters are projecting lower borrowing costs are likely to come, with modest rate cuts expected in the first half of the new year.”

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