Vancouver’s July Stats Don’t Lie
Posted August 2nd, 2012 in Real Estate, Statistics | ![]()
Summer’s Lull
According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver “Residential property sales in Greater Vancouver remained at a 10-year low in July, while the number of properties being listed for sale continued to edge down and prices remained relatively stable.” They say it’s in a Summer Lull.
The Pres Says:
“People appear to be cautious about making significant financial decisions right now. While our local economy appears to be quite robust, there may be some concern about the impact of international markets and the federal government’s tightening of mortgage regulations”
“Conditions favour buyers in our marketplace. Buyers have more selection to choose from and more time to make a decision. For sellers, it’s important to price properties competitively.”
Highlights

- There were 2,098 residential property sales of detached, attached and apartment properties in July
- an 18.4 per cent decline compared to the 2,571 sales in July 2011 and an 11.2 per cent decline compared to the previous month’s 2,362 sales.
- July sales were the lowest total for that month in the region since 2000 – 31.2% below the 10-year July sales average of 3,051
- New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 4,802 in July, the lowest number of new listings for any month this year
- 18,081 is the total number of active residential property listings on the MLS® – 18.8% more than last year
- Benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver over the last 12 months has increased 0.6% to $616,000 and declined 0.7% compared to last month.
- Detached sales in July 2012 totaled 787, a decrease of 28.4% from the 1,099 detached sales recorded in July 2011
- Detached Benchmark price increased 1.4 per cent from July 2011 to $950,200
- Apartment Sales totaled 927 in July 2012, a 10.9% cent decrease compared to the 1,040 sales in July 2011
- Apartment Benchmark price remains unchanged compared to July 2011 at $374,300
- Attached sales in July 2012 totalled 384, an 11.1% decrease compared to the 432 sales in July 2011
- Attached Benchmark price decreased 0.5% between July 2011 and 2012 to $468,700




Remember everyone, the benchmark price is not the average or median price. It is generated by a complex model with so many assumptions loaded into it, the RE boards like this one can basically make up what ever number they want.
Dig in to the real numbers and you will find average prices in Vancouver down ~15% already and cratering fast.
L.O.L.
SFH avg. price is now in full CRASH mode: down nearly 16% (i.e. nearly -$200k) since Feb/12 (i.e. in just 20 weeks)….
SFH sales keep plunging (-28%) and listings keep rising (+24%). SFH MOI = 10.1 (7,973/790) !!!!
Overal MOI for whole market is now 8.62 (18,081/2,098).
hahahaha – where are the REAL stats?
@stats
Thought these would be a good facsimile. Glad you approve
Yes, the HPI Benchmark is a facsimile alright… a facsimile of whatever the Greater Vancouver RE board wrote on a random piece of paper to deceive the public.
@stats
Like many indices the HPI is just another spoke in a wheel of spinning numbers.
After reading a couple of your more recent posts, I find it odd that your market is in decline. The U.S. and specifically the Southern Colorado market appears to be on an upswing. I understand that different markets will have different economical factors but optimism appears to sway housing sales as much as anything else.