Sutton Group-West Coast Realty - Cissy Yee
- 2 min read

Real Estate Market Update - August 2020

Another Month of Strong Property Sales (36.6% more units sold over the last year)

We hade another strong month for sales after the low sales and steady prices that occurred due to COVID-19 in the spring period. The buyers were back in the market throughout the summer with the lower mortgage rates.

Unit sales showed a very significant increase over the last year, and the prices went up approx 5% compared to that of the previous year.

The market now shows a seller’s market where the sales to listing ratio exceeded 20% levels for the 3rd month in a row. This trend is valid for all the categories, condos, townhomes and detached homes.

You may find some of the August market performance notes below:

Unit sales: 3,047 units sold. This number represents a 36.6% increase over the last year, however a slight decrease over July 2020 sales. again, the sales were 19.9% higher than the 10-year August sales average
Listings: there were 5,813 new listings on MLS, which represents a 55% increase over the last year. However, the total number of listings showed a 4.4% decrease over the last year, which is a result of high sales volumes`
Sales to Active Listing Ratio: This ratio is one of the most significant indicators for where the market is going. You may see the percentages in the graph below for August 2020. The sales to active listing ratio are over 20% for the last three months. It is a seller’s market for all categories. The trend is the strongest for townhomes where the ratio exceeded 30%
Prices: Home Price Index for all properties is now $1,038,700, which is a 5.3% increase over August 2019, and a 0.7% increase over July 2020.
Detached Homes: Unit sales were 1,095, which shows a 55% higher sales when compared to last year. the benchmark price is $1,491,300, which is a 4.5% yearly increase
Townhomes: 51.6% more sales when compared to last year(620 units). the benchmark price increased by 4.4% over the previous year
Condos: sales increased by 19.4% over last year, with a total of 1,332 unit sales. The benchmark price increased by 4.9% over the previous year.

Market Trend (Where will the prices go?)

We are in a seller’s market where the unit sales very significant growth over the last year. All summer period was powerful in sales, bringing the housing market to a price increase of around 5% over the previous year.

This increase is an indication that the buyers are back in the market, also with the support of low mortgage rates, which is around 2% for a 5-year fixed term.

The uncertainty of the pandemic and its possible effects in the economy though, makes it harder to predict autumn 2020 performance. It is clear that the buyers are willing to get in the market, but the COVID-19 news will probably be influential in the decisions of the buyers and sellers.