Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver: August 2020 Statistics Update

At Oakwyn we’re presenting statistics in a whole new way. We’ll do the work, so you don’t have to. Every month, one of our agents will unpick current market statistics from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver to help you understand what’s going on in the real estate market and what you should be looking out for.

This week, Adam Chahl from PLACE Real Estate Team and Oakwyn Realty Downtown will be covering the August 2020 statistics from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver

For the month of August 2020, we had 3,047 sales, which is 20% higher than the 10 year average for August, which clocks in at 19.9%. Sales activity is therefore way up from what we are used to in August and is about 36.6% higher than August 2019. We’re seeing a lot more transactions across the board take place, which is unusual as August is typically when we see things begin to taper off towards the end of the year.

5,813 new listings came online for the month of August 2020, 55% higher than in 2019. A lot of people who were thinking about selling in the Spring didn’t put their home on the market because of COVID-19, and now we’re starting to see a delayed spring market in Vancouver.

We’re seeing very tight inventory across most product types, and that’s resulting in a lot of multiple offers, and a lot of buyers competing for the same homes. So if you’re a seller, and you have a good saleable product, now is your time to shine.

Firstly, everyone is a little more comfortable operating with the perimeters that we’re looking at right now; sellers are more comfortable allowing people into their homes, agents are more comfortable with protective equipment as they go out and show homes, and buyers are more confident that they can transact as well.

Secondly, we’re also seeing incredibly low-interest rates. So, if you’re a buyer and you’re going into a multiple offer, you definitely have some room to play with because the cost of borrowing money is so low.

The third factor contributing to the market conditions currently is limited supply. There are many things that are in demand, for example, lower-priced product in the valley, single-family homes out in the valley, and lower-priced single-family detached in Vancouver.

Lastly, the trend we are currently hearing is that there is a little bit of an exodus after COVID-19 where families are looking for more space. Families are realizing now that they don’t have to commute, meaning maybe they can move out of town and get something more affordable and get more value.

As always, we’d love to get your take on this. Comment and let us know if these trends and observations are something you’re seeing with your buyers and sellers as well.

With these market updates, it’s very specific to the market you’re looking in and also the property type as well. So work with your agent, and trusted Realtor® to understand exactly what’s going on in each market segment.

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