The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that sales of high-end homes maintained a steady increase in June despite slow overall residential sales.
A 90 per cent increase also occurred in the $800,000 - $899,999 price category as 19 properties changed hands compared to 10 units sold during the same month last year. The June increase represented a 72.7 per cent increase from May, 2000.
Diminished demand for homes in June resulted in a combined sales decrease of 15 per cent in detached, attached and apartment units. Total properties sold for the month of June was 1,985 units.
REBGV president Bill Phillips said the decline could be partially attributed to a shortage of fresh listings. "Although the number of active listings remains stable, some Greater Vancouver neighbourhoods are unable to supply homebuyers with a good selection of properties due to a shortage of new inventory matching buyer needs."
According to the Board's Housing Price Index (HPI), price trends have increased in all property types, with the greatest increase of 3.8 per cent occurring in the attached category. The attached benchmark price for June is $226,400. Unit sales of attached properties declined by 30 per cent from 383 units sold in June 1999. Last month's attached sales represented 13.5 per cent of total MLS® units sold.
The 1,143 detached properties that sold in June 2000 showed a decline of 15 per cent compared to the 1,352 units sold during the same period last year. Detached properties represented 57.6 per cent of total MLS® units sold. The index price of a detached home increased 2.3 percent. The detached benchmark price calculated by the HPI is $345,800.
Unit sales of apartments also saw a modest decline of 4.8 per cent over June 1999 figures. No change in the index price was recorded for the month of June. The benchmark price remains steady at $159,750.
"When looking at past housing trends, this month's dip in sales is just part of the real estate market. Mortgage rates are still at historically low levels and our MLS® data shows that we are in a stable housing market," Phillips added.