May 2019 Real Estate Market Update

According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver’s stats report, housing supply had reached 5-year high in May 2019.

REBGV president Ashley Smith said: “High home prices and mortgage qualification issues caused by the federal government’s B20 stress test remain significant factors behind the reduced demand that the market is experiencing today.”

Home sale had increased 44.2% in May as compared to the previous month (April 2019) but compared with May last year, home sales had decreased 6.9% (total 2833 sales recorded in May 2018)

May 2019: Total 2638 home sales
April 2019: 
Total 1829 home sales
March 2019Total 1727 home sales
February 2019Total 1484 home sales
January 2019: Total 1103 home sales

As expected home sales had picked up in Spring but it had not reach the frantic heights as in past years (see graph below):

The Sales-to-Active Listings Ratio that reflects both home sales and inventory in May 2019 were as below:

The Sales-to-Active Listings Ratio for both townhomes and condominiums had reached 20% last month (May 2019). If the ratio surpasses 20% over several months, home prices generally go up according to analysts. It is a great time for buyers of all property types as there are more inventory to choose from and the our real estate market seemed to be very healthy (with no signs of a crash).

If we look at the Sales-to-Active Listings Ratio in different areas, for condominiums, we see a different types of market:

North Delta:           30.0%  seller’s market
Vancouver East:    28.2%  seller’s market
Coquitlam:             24.9%  seller’s market
Surrey:                   23.6%  seller’s market
Metro Vancouver:   21.2%  seller’s market
Burnaby:                19.7%  balanced market
Vancouver West:   18.9%  balanced market
Richmond:             14.9%  balanced market

The Bank of Canada held its overnight rate at 1.75% which kept the bank interest rates at 3.95%. Unlike the central bank’s previous statements, there had been no mention of further increases as the economy had nearly ground to a halt at the beginning of this year.

Bank of Canada holds key interest rate at 1.75% (May 29, 2019)

To read the May 2019 stats report from the Real Estate Board, click here.

TD Economics Data Release: Bank of Canada hikes, with more likely to come

  • The Bank of Canada met market expectations, raising its key monetary policy interest rate by 25 basis points, to 0.75%.
  • The June jobs number from Statistics Canada was the last significant economic detail to be delivered before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate announcement today. The creation of more than 45,000 new jobs was far better than forecast and continues a trend that started about a year ago. It all but guarantees there will be an increase in the central bank’s trendsetting rate. As expected, the overnight rate increased by 0.25% to 0.75%.