The market’s higher supply level is having a noticeable impact on the condo segment
Despite a recent drop in prices, the Greater Vancouver region remains Canada’s most expensive condo market.
However, the downward movement was notable enough to give a slightly higher proportion of hopeful buyers access to the property type.
“With a deceleration in Vancouver’s condo market, buyers for the first time in several years can benefit from the changing landscape. Higher inventory levels have resulted in the market nearing the point of oversupply and price per square foot has been decreasing considerably in this category,” Royal LePage West Real Estate Services real estate advisor Adil Dinani said.
During the first seven months of 2019, the median price of a condo unit in the City of Vancouver fell by 6.3% annually to $1,044 per square foot. The Greater Vancouver region also saw its median condo value drop by 8.3 per cent year-over-year to $764 per sq. ft.
Further comparing condos and single-detached housing, condo affordability is more apparent in the City of Vancouver, where single-family homes were at $1,279 per sq. ft.
In the Greater Vancouver region itself, the median price of a single-family detached home was at $648 per sq. ft.
“We are also seeing a trend of buyers moving beyond the city core and closer to the transit corridor where properties are more affordable,” Dinani stated.
“We predict condo buyers in the coming year will continue moving east where properties are more affordable, especially while interest rates remain low,” he added. “In addition to better affordability, many neighbourhoods in Burnaby, the Tri-Cities and the Valley are developing attractive necessities that were previously only available in Vancouver.”
