October 2018 Market Update

Well, nobody can say that October 2018 was a good month for Vancouver real estate. Sales were down considerably and prices continue to slide lower in general. To date, that slide in prices has been a consistent but slow downward trend over the last few months (with the exception of condos that remain in positive territory year over year).

The 487 sales last month were the lowest sales for any October in the last 10 years. The next lowest number of sales was in October 2012 when there were 601. The last time that we had sales in October in the 400s was in October 2008 (11 years ago) when there were only 405.

Where we continue to see optimism is that the active listing count remains, at least in the City of Vancouver, to be quite reasonable. In recent years, the stronger years in our market tend to see around 3,000 active listings at this time of year, about 4,000 is normal for a more typical year and 5,000 or greater tends to be when we have seen more significant corrections (like in 2008 when there were more than 6,000, or 2012 when there were about 5,000).

While overall sales are quite low, the fact that active listings are not ballooning indicates to us that this is the soft landing that policy makers were hoping to orchestrate. We’ll continue to keep an eye on that active listing count over the next few months. There’s no telling how long this softness may last, but it does provide an opportunity for astute buyers and investors to take advantage.