Downtown condo prices up by 1% in March over February but COVID 19 impact looms

Vancouver’s downtown condo and townhouse real estate market in March started with strong sales activity but as with most markets has been greatly impacted by the COVID 19 crisis in recent weeks.  

Looking at March’s numbers the downtown market experienced a slight 1% increase in benchmark sale prices, inventory increased by 10%, and sales increased by 18 % when compared to February. 
Dean Wegman downtown vancouver real estate

Current trends put ALL the neighbourhoods; downtown, Westend, Yaletown and Coal Harbour in “Seller’s” market conditions. 

With the impact we’re seeing with COVID 19 on the recent home sales numbers in the later part of March, the reduction in business is shifting conditions from seller's markets to more balanced markets. Condo and townhome sales are still happening downtown despite the self isolation measures, and well priced homes have even in recent weeks been selling in competition and over asking price.

How do we know? List to Sales Ratio!

A buyer’s market has a 0-12% list to sales ratio
A balanced market has a 12-20% list to sales ratio
A seller’s market has a 21% or greater list to sales ratio

What does it mean?

Generally, analysts say downward pressure on home prices occurs when the ratio dips below 12 per cent for a sustained period, while home prices often experience upward pressure when it surpasses 20 per cent over several months.

Neighbourhood Breakdown For March

Downtown 33% with 221 listings and 72 sales
Westend 28% with 133 listings and 37 sales
Yaletown 22% with 174 listings and 39 sales
Coal Harbour 23% with 102 listings and 23 sales

The BIGGER picture

The overall list to sales ratio for ALL of Vancouver downtown was 27% in March (up from 25% in February).

Here’s the breakdown for Vancouver Downtown condos and townhomes in March:

The most active price range was for homes between $600K to $700K (72% sales to list ratio)
Homes are selling on average at 1% above of list price
Buyer’s Best Bet: Homes minimum $5mil, Yaletown, and up to 3 bedroom properties
Seller’s Best Bet: Selling Homes in Downtown neighbourhood and up to 1 bedroom properties.

NEW! Check out our average live price updates for downtown Vancouver by neighbourhoods on our speciality site's homepage here.

Thinking of buying or selling a downtown condo? We're here to help! Contact us to find out why we're the #1 brokerage across Greater Vancouver over the past two years. 

All stats derived from Dean Wegman & SnapStats.
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