Greater Vancouver Realtors says last month’s home sales in the region dropped 5% from a year ago, even as the number of new listings jumped 20%.
The real estate body said sales in the market totalled 2,333 last month, while new listings reached 5,597.
The composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver was about $1.2 million. That’s both a 0.8% decrease from last July 2023 and from June 2024.
Greater Vancouver Realtors’ director of economics and data analytics said the numbers indicate the buyer hesitance that materialized months ago continued in July.
Andrew Lis said the trend persisted despite another cut to the Bank of Canada’s policy rate and a rush of new inventory.
He said it’s also surprising to see transaction levels remain below historical norms during the mid-point of summer, which the numbers cover.
Calgary
Meanwhile, the Calgary Real Estate Board says July home sales dropped 10% year-over-year as 2,380 properties were sold.
The board said the benchmark price across all home types was $606,700 for July, similar to last month and nearly 8% higher than last year.
Ann-Marie Lurie, chief economist at CREB, said while the Calgary market struggles with supply of lower-priced homes, more options in both the new and resale markets have helped dampen the pace of home price growth.
She said the results are in line with expectations for the second half of the year and if inventory continues to rise, it will result in more stable home prices.
The board said July inventory levels topped 4,000 units for the first time in nearly two years but still remains 33% below typical July levels.
CREB said while the highest supply growth was seen for homes priced above $600,000, the rise has helped shift away from the extreme sellers’ market seen in the spring.