January 2023 - Vancouver Real Estate Market Update: Will It Get Better?

Last month across Greater Vancouver, we saw sales counts hit the lowest level since 2008 and housing inventory on the market still scarce. Vancouver's housing market is still being driven by inflation and increasing costs of borrowing money. Sales dipped 52% last month and new listings fell 38% when compared with December 2021. As expected, the December holiday season is usually much quieter than the rest of the year.

Despite the 10-year December sales average falling 38%,  townhouses and condos across Greater Vancouver continue to favour sellers as the months of inventory  dip slightly lower and single family homes remain in 'balanced' market territory with 5.5 months of inventory. The MLS benchmark price was $1,114,300 across all home types in Greater Vancouver.  This is only a 3.3% price decline from December 2021. 

For entry-level home buyers, we're still seeing quite a bit of competition, especially for the good inventory, meaning homes that are priced well and presented well in select neighbourhoods.  I've seen these homes get offers within days of it hitting the market and sometimes, sold for over asking price too.   Homes that need work, may take longer to sell as buyers are pickier now and mostly looking for move-in ready homes rather than having to do the renovation work themselves. It's very important for Sellers to take the time to prepare their homes, whether that's staging, decorating, and doing some renovations in order to attract the demographic that is upsizing or entering the market for the first time.

The federal foreign buyer ban and the BC rental and age restriction ban came into effect very recently, with politicians trying to keep housing costs down for both buyers and renters. So far, it's too early to tell the successes of these bans and with continuously low housing inventory, rents still remain high and many buyers are still looking and waiting for a decent home to buy.  

BC Assessment reports came out in early January.  Just note, the assessed property values released have increased on average across Greater Vancouver and these values simply don't match up with today's property market values as the data collected is from July of the previous year. Regardless of the type of home you're in, you may find errors in these assessed values especially if your home is renovated, has unique features or views. For example, in a condo building, compare two similar sized units but one with an oversized storage room and parking spot and the other with no parking or storage. What you may find is two homes with the same assessed value. You and I already know, that that's not right.

Here's a remedy. You can file an appeal to BC Assessment if you feel that your property's assessed value does not add up. For different reasons, homeowners may file an appeal to either increase or decrease their property's assessed value. You have until January 31st to do so.

I hope that gives you a glimpse into Vancouver's real estate market for January 2023.

Feel free to DM me or leave a comment if you have any questions about what you just heard.