Buyers Can Again Make Low Ball Offers As Home Sales Hit 10 Year Low

Home sales in the region fell 17.2 percent from May to June, and a 27.6 percent decline from 2011, hitting a ten year low.

VANCOUVER – Buyers again can try low ball offers and have a better chance of landing a price to their liking after steady declines over last year in the local housing makrker.

The Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board reports that residential property sales of detached, attached and apartment properties reached just over 2300 last month – compared to slightly more than 3200 a year ago.

Board president Eugen Klein told CTV news buyers are facing less competition and have more selection to choose from compared to earlier in the year.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver has declared a buyer’s market after property sales hit a 10-year low in June.

House and apartment sales reached just 2,362 last month, according to a board report released Wednesday morning, representing a 17.2 per cent drop from May and a 27.6 per cent decline from the 3,262 sales in June 2011.

“Overall conditions have trended in favour of buyers in our marketplace in recent months,” board president Eugen Klein said in a statement. “This means buyers are facing less competition and have more selection to choose from.”

The report says prices have remained relatively stable, however.

The benchmark price for an apartment property increased 0.3 per cent from the previous year to $376,200, while detached properties increased 3.3 per cent to $961,600. The benchmark price for attached properties decreased just 0.1 per cent down to $468,400.

According to the board, June saw the lowest monthly sales total in the region since 2000, a number 32.2 per cent below the 10-year June sales average of 3,484.

Meanwhile the number of property listings, at 18,493, represented a 22 per cent increase over the same month last year.

“Our sales-to-active ratio sits at 13 per cent, which puts us at the lower end of a balanced market,” Klein said. “This ration has been declining in our market since March when it was 19 per cent.”

There were 5,617 new listings in Metro Vancouver last month, marking a slight decrease from June 2011’s numbers.

June’s sales consisted of 1,016 apartments, 921 detached houses and 415 attached.