February 2024 Greater Vancouver Realtors Statistics

Home sellers active, bring much-needed inventory to housing market – February 2024 Greater Vancouver Realtors Statistics

VANCOUVER, BC – March 4, 2024 – While Metro Vancouver home sellers appeared somewhat hesitant in January, new listings rose 31 per cent year-over-year in February, bringing a significant number of newly listed properties to the market.

Greater Vancouver REALTORS® (GVR)According to reports, residential sales in the area totalled 2,070 sales in February of 2024. That’s a 13,5% increase from the 1,824 recorded sales in February of 2023. This was 23.3% below the seasonal average of 2 699 over the past 10 years.

“While the pace of home sales started the year off briskly, the pace of newly listed properties in January was slower by comparison. A continuation of this pattern in February would have been concerning, as it could quickly tilt the market towards overheated conditions,” Andrew Lis, GVR’s director of economics and data analytics said. “With new listings up about 31 per cent year-over-year in February, this will relieve some of the pressure that was building in January and offer buyers more choice as we enter the spring and summer markets.”

“With new listings up about 31 per cent year-over-year in February, this will relieve some of the pressure that was building in January and offer buyers more choice as we enter the spring and summer markets.”

There were 4,560 detached, attached and apartment properties newly listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Metro Vancouver in February 2024. This represents an increase of 31.1% compared to the 3,478 listed properties in February 2023. This was 0.2% less than the 10-year seasonal mean (4,568).

The total number of properties currently listed for sale on the MLS® system in Metro Vancouver is 9,634, a 16.3 per cent increase compared to February 2023 (8,283). This is 3% above the seasonal average of the past 10 years (9,352).

The sales-to-active-listings ratio for February 2020 is 22.4% across all property types: detached, attached or apartment. According to property type, the sales-to-active listings ratio for February 2024 is 22.4 per cent.

Analyzing historical data, it is clear that home prices are often under downward pressure when the ratio falls below 12 percent for a sustained time period. However, home prices are often under upward pressure when the ratio exceeds 20 percent over a period of several months.

“Even with the increase in new listings however, standing inventory levels were not high enough relative to the pace of sales to mitigate price acceleration in February, with most segments of the market moving into sellers’ territory,” Lis said.

“This competitive dynamic has led to modest price growth across all market segments this month, but it’s noteworthy that benchmark prices remain below the peak observed in the spring of 2022, before the market internalized the full effect of the Bank of Canada’s tightening cycle.”

The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $1,183,300. This represents a 4.5% increase over February 2023, and a 1.9% increase compared to the January 2024.

In February 2024, detached home sales reached 560. This represents an increase of 8.3 percent over the 517 detached home sales recorded in February 2012. The benchmark price is $1972,400 for a detached residence. This represents a 7.2% increase from February 2023, and a 1.5% increase compared to the January 2024.

In February 2024 the number of apartment homes sold reached 1,092, an increase of 17.7 percent compared to February 2023 when 928 apartments were sold. The benchmark apartment home price is $770.700. This represents a 5.6% increase from February 2023, and a 2.5% increase compared to the January 2024.

In February 2024 the attached home sales totaled 403. This is a 10.1% increase over the 366 sales of February 2023. The benchmark price is $1094,700 for a townhouse. This represents an increase of 4.2 percent from February 2023.