BC Business
Sotheby's International Realty Canada's Top-Tier Real Estate Report analyzes market trends for luxury properties in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal
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Vancouver’s top-tier residential real estate market split in two directions last year, according to Sotheby’s International Realty Canada’s Top-Tier Real Estate Report, a bi-annual study highlighting market trends for $1-million-plus residential properties in Canada’s largest urban centres.
Despite cooling measures introduced by the provincial and federal governments in 2016, last year Vancouver condominium sales over $1 million increased 27 percent, with 1,285 units sold, compared to 1,008 in 2016.
Conversely, sales of single-family homes worth more than $1 million eased in 2017, a trend that Sotheby’s attributes to the disconnection between buyers and sellers: “while buyers approached the market anticipating lower prices, sellers aimed to maximize returns despite faltering demand.”
As a result, single-family home sales over $1 million fell 20 percent from 2016 levels, to 2,307 in 2017. The $4-million-plus luxury single family home market took the biggest beating, with 336 units sold in 2017, a 35-percent drop from 520 in 2016.
However, prices kept rising, with the average cost of a single-family home reaching $3,573,700 in Vancouver West and $1,573,500 in Vancouver East in November 2017, up 1.5 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively, year-over-year. Also, the Teranet-National Bank House Price Index reached record highs at the end of 2017, with a 14-percent year-over-year increase, Sotheby’s notes, adding, “This climate led to migration outside of the urban core, as local purchasers were priced out of the market.”
As for this year, the Conference Board of Canada forecasts that British Columbia will outpace all other provinces in economic growth. With positive net migration, a strong labour market and a low unemployment rate well below the national average fuelling consumer demand, Sotheby’s predicts stabilization of Vancouver’s $1-million-plus market in early 2018.
The firm’s Top-Tier Real Estate Report analyzes year-over-year data and key variables for 2017, offering insight into trends in the market for real estate over $1 million in Vancouver, Calgary, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Montreal. The complete report, plus a database of active and sold listings, are available on the Sotheby’s International Realty Canada website.