Vancouver home prices continued to grow in October, with the average sale price increasing 15.6% over the past year and the repeat sale prices increasing 9.83%.
The average sale price for all home types in Greater Vancouver was $947,334 in October, up 15.6% compared with $819,336 last year, according to data released by the British Columbia Real Estate Association. Across British Columbia, the average sale price was $667,480, up 16% from $575,504 last year.
In total, over $5.8 billion in residential sales took place in the month across the province, with more than $3.5 billion attributable to Greater Vancouver. These totals represent year-over-year increases of 32% and 38%, respectively.
“Consumer demand continued at a heightened pace in October,” said BCREA economist Brendon Ogmundson.
“Market conditions have diverged significantly in the province as very low supply and a near record pace of home sales in the Metro Vancouver area is offsetting resource sector-driven weakness in northern markets.”
The BCREA said the Lower Mainland market had a three-month supply of residential inventory. Across the province as a whole, the supply was about four months.
“A balanced market typically exhibits a five-to-eight month supply of homes for sale,” the BCREA said.
In terms of repeat sales, the city once again saw the biggest year-over-year increases across the country, according to Teranet’s home price index.
Teranet uses statistics compiled from public land registries using a repeat-sales methodology, which means it looks at sales of homes that have been sold at least twice since 1990.
Repeat sale home prices increased 9.83% in October compared with a year earlier, according to the data released November 12.
Price increases in Toronto and Hamilton, both up 9.3%, in Victoria, up 6.4% and in Edmonton, 1.4%, helped prices grow 5.6% overall nationwide. Prices either fell or stayed the same in all other major centres. The biggest decreases were in Quebec City (down 3.2%), Calgary (down 1%) and Montreal (down 0.6%).
“[October] was the first month since October 2009 that prices were up from a year earlier in only five of the 11 metropolitan markets surveyed,” said Marc Pinsonneault, senior economist, National Bank of Canada’s economics and strategy group.
Compared with one month prior, home prices were up 0.6% in Vancouver, which was well above the national average of 0.1%. Winnipeg led the country in gains in October, with prices increasing 1.9%. Prices were up in Toronto and Victoria (both 0.3%) and Edmonton (0.2%), but fell in all other major centres including Halifax (down 1.7%) and Calgary (down 0.8%).
“For Vancouver it was the 10th consecutive month in which prices did not fall, for Toronto the eighth—a trend consistent with the sellers’-market conditions prevailing in those two markets,” said Pinsonneault.
