Just like the ground, real estate sales in the Tri-Cities are drying up this summer.
According to statistics released by the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board, in May, June and July the Coquitlam house market saw the number of sales drop 49.3% from 363 in the summer of ’17 to 184 this year, townhouse sales go down 44% (166 to 93) and condos 40.8% (419 to 248). In Port Moody, house sales decreased 43.5% (69 to 39), condos 41.4% (128-75) and townhouses 34.2% (73 to 48).
The last three months of PoCo house sales were down 40.4% (178 to 106) compared to the same three months in 2017. The last month was particularly precipitous in PoCo with it going from 47 sales in June to 22 in July, a drop of 53.2%. Three-month townhouse sales dipped 40.5% from 11 to 66 and condos 29.3% (174 to 123).
Those residential property sales drops are also higher than the rest of the region. The REBGV reports there was a 30.1% decrease in the number of sales from July 2018 to July 2017 and a drop of 14.6% from June to July this year. While sales are down, listings were up 32% from last July and 1.6% from June to July this year.
It’s the lowest level for sales in July in Metro Vancouver since 2000.
“With fewer buyers active in today’s market, we’re seeing less upward pressure on home prices across the region,” said REBGV president Phil Moore in a press release. “This is most pronounced in the detached home market, but demand in the town home and apartment market is also relenting from the more frenetic pace experienced over the last few years.
“Summer is traditionally a quieter time of year in real estate. This is particularly true this year. With increased mortgage rates and stricter lending requirements, buyers and sellers are opting to take a wait-and-see approach for the time being.”
The overall benchmark price for a residential home in Coquitlam was $980,400 in July, a dip of 0.4% from June. But that’s still up 5.1% from six months ago and 10.7% from a year ago. Port Coquitlam’s benchmark was $780,200, a drop of 1.2% from the previous month but 10.8% higher than last year. The benchmark residential price in Port Moody dropped 2.2% from June to July to $972,500. That’s 0.2% less than it was three months ago, but a 4.7% six-month boost and 12.3% increase in one year.
Port Moody condo prices took the deepest dive from June to July dropping 3.6% to a benchmark of $674,100, which is a three-month decline of 2.6% but a six-month increase of 4.9%. The city’s single family detached unit benchmark went down 1.4% from June to July to $1,529,700. PoMo townhouses, though, held their own with a benchmark price of $689,400, a half a per cent higher than June.
In Port Coquitlam, the numbers were also down in all three categories. A benchmark PoCo condo went for $480,900 in July, a drop of 1.7% from June. A benchmark single family home in PoCo was $1,016,400 in July, 1.3% less than in June while the benchmark townhouse was down 0.2% to $688,400.
The benchmark prices in Coquitlam all saw drops of less than 1% with a condo dropping .6% to $548,700, a single family detached .3% to $1,309,400 and a townhouse .2% to $710,000.
