Pace of home sales slowed in August, but prices still increasing: Vancouver board

VANCOUVER – The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says the city’s home sales have slowed from a frenzied pace earlier this year, but supply has dwindled all summer and prices are continuing to rise.

The board says August home sales in the region totalled 3,152, a 3.4 per cent increase from 3,047 last August, but a 5.2 per cent decrease from 3,326 in July.

The board says sales last month were about 20 per cent higher than the 10-year August sales average.

The month saw 4,032 new listings, down 30.6 per cent from 5,813 last August and off 7.9 per cent from 4,377 in July.

The board says its multiple listing service composite benchmark price for all residential properties reached $1,176,600 in August, up 13.2 per cent from the same period last year and a 0.1 per cent increase from July.

The board’s economist Keith Stewart says the figures indicate that housing supply has become one of the biggest issues facing the market.

“August was busier than expected, and listings activity isn’t keeping up with the pace of demand,” he says in a release.

“This is leaving the market under supplied.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 2, 2021.