Home sales in January 2015 are 14.9% higher than the 10-year average of the same month in Greater Vancouver. Buyers are still actively buying homes while the number of homes listed for sale is lower than average. We are starting to see more multiple offer situations and just this week, we’ve seen in our office the following multiple offer bidding war:
- #105-825 W 15th Ave Vancouver, a 25-year old, 2-bedroom townhome without renovation: Asking $529,900, Sold to subject free offer for $580,000.
- 9111 Holmes St. Burnaby, a 60-year old detached house, asking price $828,000, TEN competing offers, Sold subject free for $885,000.
- 1163 W 38th Ave Vancouver, a 73-year old detached house, asking price $3,088,000. Sold in six days for $3,830,000.
REBGV president Ray Harris said: “While demand remains steady, we’re seeing fewer homes for sale at the moment. This is creating greater competition amongst buyers, particularly in the detached home market. The number of detached homes listed for sale today is the second lowest we’ve seen in four years.” The REBGV report also pointed out the sales-to-active-listings ratio is 17.7% which indicates a balanced market.
However, if we break down the sales-to-active-listings ratio even further into Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Single family house, townhouse and condominiums, the ratio can provide even more interesting information (see chart below):
For example, it’s a seller’s market for Single family houses in Vancouver and Burnaby whereas it is a balanced market in Richmond. Two of the multiple offers situation we’ve seen this week happened to be in Vancouver and Burnaby. From the ratio, we see that the Burnaby townhouse market is an even hotter seller’s market at 34%. In January, there were a total of 138 townhomes for sale in Burnaby and 47 were sold last month. At this rate, all the townhome inventory will be sold in 3 months if no more townhome come onto the market in Burnaby! On the other hand, the condo market in Richmond is tipping towards a buyer’s market so buyers who are looking to purchase a condo in Richmond may have more room for negotiation.