Vancouver home prices are still rising despite rising costs for buyers

Investors in residential real estate in the Greater Vancouver area are still seeing the value of their assets rise, despite the challenging affordability issues exacerbated by rising interest rates.

New stats from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver show a 30% increase in sales volume year-over-year in July, while prices are up 0.5% from July 2022 and up 0.6% from May 2023 to an MLS Home Price Index benchmark of $1.2 million.

“While sales remain about 15% below the ten-year average, they are also up about 30% year-over-year, which is not insignificant,” said Andrew Lis, REBGV’s director of economics and data analytics.

For a detached home, the benchmark is more than $2 million while townhouses are at the $1.1 million mark with apartments at near $772,000.

Greater choice

Buyers have more choice than a year ago with 4,649 detached, attached and apartment properties newly listed for sale on the MLS in Metro Vancouver in July 2023, up 17% year-over-year but 5% below the 10-year seasonal average.

Despite the increased supply, and the cost of a mortgage, buyers are still keen to own a piece of the region’s residential real estate. 

“What’s interesting to see in the current market environment is that, while the Bank of Canada rate hike this July was only a quarter of a per cent, mortgage rates are now at the highest levels we’ve seen in Canada in over ten years,” said Lis.  “Yet despite borrowing costs being even higher than last July, sales activity surpassed the levels we saw last year, which I think says a lot about the strength of demand in our market and buyers’ ability to adapt to and qualify for higher borrowing costs.”