Despite real estate market activity slowing across Greater Vancouver, condo prices continue to skyrocket, according to an agent survey report released July 10.
The Royal LePage House Price Survey, a report compiled from a national survey of Royal LePage agents, found that home prices overall were about 7.2 per cent higher in Greater Vancouver than a year ago, at an aggregate of $1,269,816 in 2018’s second quarter. (The aggregate price is a weighted average of the median sale prices of each type of homes.)
When broken out by property type, however, that annual price increase was 18.4 per cent for a condo in the region, with the median sale price of $692,452 in Q2 2018.
“Condominium prices continue to grow at unprecedented levels across Greater Vancouver,” said Adil Dinani, real estate advisor, Royal LePage West Real Estate Services. “Purchasers look to condominiums for relative affordability, yet with competition continuing to intensify, property values within the segment now outstrip most detached markets across the country.
“To put it into perspective, the budget now needed to purchase a condo could have netted someone a two-storey home in Greater Vancouver four years ago.”
The North Shore also saw steep condo price rises, although West Vancouver didn’t perform as well as North Vancouver. In West Vancouver, condos rose 10.9 per cent on an annual basis, to $1,186,888. The aggregate West Vancouver home price, all property types combined, posted its first quarterly increase in over a year, rising 3.8 per cent from the previous quarter to $3,114,388.
In North Vancouver, condo values rose 21.7 per cent year-over-year to $694,227, while the area’s aggregate home price increased by 5.9 per cent year-over-year to $1,453,883. Royal LePage said, “Purchasers continued to flock to [North Vancouver’s] condominium market due to its relative affordability and close proximity to the downtown core.”
The Royal LePage survey report includes a forecast, which predicts aggregate home prices in the region will continue climbing at a slower pace. It expects overall Greater Vancouver home values to rise by another 1.5 per cent next quarter, and by a similar amount in Q4.
Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage, said, “The market has begun to absorb and adjust to the new realities; we expect an uptick in sales volumes and prices during the second half of 2018. The fundamentals have not changed. The economy is strong and unemployment is very low. We face shortages in our major cities, with many more people looking for homes than the market has available for purchase or rent. Upward pressure on prices will likely return to most markets this quarter.”
