The Vancouver region housing market shattered a sales record in December to cap off an incredible rebound in the second half of 2020.
Moving into the first month of a new year, all eyes are on the resale market to see if it can maintain its head-spinning velocity or if it’s set to come off the boil.
With mid-month resale figures released by local brokerage Dexter Realty, we can now confidently say it’s looking like the heat won’t be letting up anytime soon as homebuyers have been scooping up properties at a relentless pace.
According to Dexter Realty Managing Broker Kevin Skipworth, home sales in the first 15 days of January — at 977 units — are up 68 percent from the number of transactions recorded during the same period a year ago. When compared to January 2019, they’re up 147 percent.
“In 2019 we were saying buyers are needed! This year much like last year, it’s sellers that are needed!” Skipworth wrote in an email sharing the January mid-month figures.
If buyers took any kind of break during the holidays, they sprung back into action in the New Year with no delays.
And, as Skipworth alluded to, supply currently on the market is far from enough to satisfy the current level of demand present in the Vancouver region. The mid-month data showed that there were 270 fewer active listings available in the first 15 days of January 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, when demand was much less intense.
“This is going to put pressure on prices to rise and continue the pattern of multiple offers,” Skipworth wrote.
“The typical market dynamic of sellers not wanting to list for fear of having to compete for their next home or fear of not finding it in time for when they have to leave the home they sold is unfolding as 2021 takes off,” he added.
