This an excerpt from The Saretsky Report. You can subscribe to the monthly report for free Here. The June edition is set to be released later this week.
Detached sales across Greater Vancouver dipped just 1.7% from last June, despite the small decline it still helped push detached sales towards their lowest count on record. This marked the fewest transactions dating back to 1991.
Again, this reaffirms our belief that detached sales are nearing a bottoming process where the comparative base effects are easing and will likely trend positive within the next 6-8 months. In other words, detached sales are already so low that we should expect to see year-over-year increases very soon. This is not to be confused with year-over-year price increases.
Although inventory actually fell 5% year-over-year it remains elevated. As of today, there is 8.8 months of inventory for sale, suggesting further downwards pressure on prices. However, new listings fell 17.7% from last year which has certainly helped support prices from falling further. We will continue to watch inventory numbers closely.
Buyers remain very cautious, and low-ball offers have become commonplace. Similar to our message last month, entry level houses, particularly with mortgage helpers are not seeing nearly as much downwards pressure. When priced right there is still adequate demand willing to provide liquidity. Overall prices continued their march lower In June with the average sales price dropping by 14.1% from last year, while the median sales price marked a 9.3% decline.
