Housing prices continue to climb across Metro Vancouver
Posted October 14, 2015 8:04 am.
Last Updated October 14, 2015 8:05 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It doesn’t matter which type of home — bungalows, condos and two-storey houses all saw price jumps across Metro Vancouver compared to the third quarter of last year.
A new survey from Royal LePage shows an across-the board price increase for homes of all types, with Richmond, Burnaby and Vancouver having the highest average jump.
“We found the rise particularly in the detached housing market across all areas of Vancouver to be significant and somewhat surprising — particularly in areas like Richmond and Burnaby. But almost all of the markets are up into double digits,” says Alan Stewart with the real estate company.
In Richmond, that 20 per cent on-average jump for all types of homes translates to an increase of more than $120,000.
“It’s unusual to see a 20 per cent lift year-over-year. In Richmond, it’s a 23.5 per cent lift on a two-storey home, which in any market is a crazy return,” says Stewart.
The average aggregate home price in Vancouver is now over $1 million when you factor in bungalows, condos, and two-story houses.
“The outlying areas are starting to see more and more activity as people look to different communities in the Fraser Valley and Squamish as options instead of the downtown core. If you’re within a half-hour driving distance of the downtown city centre, you’re going to pay a real premium in this market,” says Stewart.
West Vancouver saw the lowest aggregate price jump at just over 3.2 per cent, bringing the average price there to just under $2.4 million.
The growth is all because of supply and demand.
“Typically [we’ve seen] very low supply and significant demand where record low numbers of listings are available in markets like North Vancouver and [there is] a really significant demand from both international and local buyers. And that discrepancy between demand and supply is really driving the prices,” says Stewart.
Breaking it down by home type, Vancouver bungalows saw the largest jump at 28 per cent to an average price of $1.2 million.
West Vancouver condos saw the biggest — and really, one of the only — drops at 12.4 per cent, with an average price of $890,000.
