As housing sales in Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley soared in November, listings of homes for sale plunged to near decade-lows.
Total housing sales were up 40% in November through the MLS of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver and jumped 55% from the same month a year ago through the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB). Both boards posted the second-highest November sales on record.
But total listings in Greater Vancouver are down 35% from a year ago and 31% in the Valley.
“Our housing inventory overall hasn’t been this low since spring of 2006,” said FVREB president Jorda Maisey.
Last month, a total of 5,243 homes came onto the market in both board areas while sales reached 5,290 units.
Prices have been rising as inventory declines. In Greater Vancouver, the benchmark detached house price is now $1.2 million, up 22.6% from November of 2014. In the Fraser Valley, the typical detached house sells for $659,700, an increase of 14.7% from a year ago.
“November is not normally this busy,” Maisey said. “We’ve experienced our usual, seasonal dip in the number of new listings, but we’re just not seeing any decline in the demand.”
