The Globe and Mail reported recently that Vancouver’s housing market is cooling off considerably just as the weather is getting hot. The figures from June indicate that sales were off 30% in the west coast city as compared to last year. However, everything is relative since the 2,972 sales that took place is the second highest number ever.
Still, it looks like the drop (especially in the summer time, since that’s moving season) indicates a cool-down in the market which had been bouncing back from a “post-recession runup.” June is the second month in a row of declining sales compared with last year. This trend is reflected also in the rest of Canada. For example:
The Calgary Real Estate Board, meanwhile, reported sales of single family homes fell 16 per cent in June from May and 42 per cent from June of 2009, while condo sales fell 14 per cent from a month earlier and 40 per cent from a year earlier. Notable is that sales of high-end properties worth $1-million or more are rising, the group said.
Mortgage brokers and other experts have lots of ideas but can’t quite put their finger on it-especially since mortgage rates are getting lower for the time being. They are widely expected to head higher in the fall, so one would imagine increased turnover prior to that-but perhaps buyers have planned ahead by a wider margin and done all their shopping already. There are other factors as well: HST changes may have made people antsy, and tougher mortgage rules enacted mid-April likely front-loaded buying prior to the summer months.
However, like we said, everything’s relative and things still look fine in Vancouver. Jake Moldowan, president of the Vancouver’s Real Estate Board says that inventories and demand are staying in healthy proportions for the time of year. “We are seeing continued moderation in Calgary’s home sales in the face of higher mortgage rates, increased inventory levels and a decreasing number of fist-time home buyers entering the market,” said board president Diane Scott.
