March has brought a busy market! It’s been fast paced with a lot of action from really eager Buyers. Good listings in hot neighbourhoods are selling quickly, whether they are condos, townhomes, detached house or buildable lots. Across Vancouver, there has been a 41% increase in sales compared to February 2013 and a 44% increase in sales over last month. If you’re looking to sell, ensure your house presents well and is priced according to current market value.
We’re seeing Buyers snap up some of the more affordable options in Vancouver, which then allows those Sellers to buy their next property and so on. This type of waterfall activity keeps the market strong.
East Vancouver Detached Homes remain the most active market, but let’s break down the Vancouver Market even further:
TOWNHOMES and 1/2 DUPLEXES
The East Van Townhome and 1/2 Duplex market is performing well with a big increase in sales and steady prices. The average price per square foot is $503/sqft, which has been slowly increasing the past few years. Every price bracket is performing well with a sales to active ratio of at least 22%.
The Westside of Vancouver’s townhouse and 1/2 Duplex market is a slower moving market compared to the rest. Sales increased 57% and prices remained fairly steady compared to last month, the the average between $800,000 – $900,000 and an average price per sqft of $662. The price range with the best sales-to-active ratio is the sub-$650,000 market thanks to townhomes in strata complexes that happen to have private access.
CONDOS
Condos in Vancouver East saw a lot of action last month! Total sales were 135, which is more than double the previous month. Prices remained steady in the low to mid $300,000 range with the average price per sqft landing at $512. The average sales-to-active ratio for Vancouver East Condos was over 30%, a Seller’s Market, with the most affordable sub $370,000 market seeing the most activity. This is great news for the market – more buyers entering the market allows those Sellers to buy their next property, which allows those Sellers to buy their next property and so on. This type of activity keeps the market strong.
The Vancouver West Condos market performed well last month with a 33% increase in sales to a total of 324, and increases in both average and median prices. The high number of luxury condos skews the average sale price, so consider the median price of $510.125 to be a better estimate of typical price. The best performing markets are the sub-$650,000 with at least 20% sales to active listings. Downtown things slowed slightly with only small changes to listings, sales and prices.
The market is busy now, but we’ll see a drop in activity before summer rolls around. If you’re interested in selling soon, give us a call so we can offer a plant hat suits your needs, and Buyers, stay in tune with the market so you know what’s selling, where and why.
