![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/vancouver-white-rock-housing-market.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPhoto:\u00a0Glen Jackson<\/a>\/Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n For the past three years, Vancouver has been highly exposed to housing-related risks \u2014 not anymore.<\/p>\n And three other large markets currently displaying high levels of vulnerability may be joining BC\u2019s biggest urban centre soon.<\/p>\n These are takeaways from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation\u2019s latest Housing Market Assessment<\/a>, a study the national housing agency undertakes each quarter.<\/p>\n\n The overall assessment is based on four indicators: price acceleration as well as signs of overheating, overvaluation and overbuilding.<\/p>\n It was easing home prices that tipped the scales for Vancouver\u2019s market.<\/p>\n In the May assessment, CMHC still flagged moderate vulnerabilities related to price acceleration, but this time around the degree of vulnerability was downgraded to low.<\/p>\n In June, the benchmark price of a Greater Vancouver home, including houses and condo apartments, was $998,700, down 9.6 percent versus a year ago and 0.8 percent from May, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver<\/a>.<\/p>\n The benchmark price hasn\u2019t touched sub-one-million-dollar territory since May 2017, the Financial Post reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n The market still has moderate overvaluation risks, but there weren\u2019t significant signs of overheating or overbuilding.<\/p>\n Chart: CMHC<\/em><\/p>\n Late last month, Vancouver realtor Steve Saretsky drew attention to the record number of homes under construction across Greater Vancouver<\/a>, and he says CMHC’s evaluation of low overbuilding vulnerabilities is “certainly up for debate.”<\/p>\n “Over the next two or three years there’s a lot of supply that’s in the pipeline,” \u00a0he tells Livabl, noting the more than 44,000 units being built in the region as of June.<\/p>\n However, he notes that developers have begun shelving projects in the slow-sales environment. MLA Advisory, the research branch of real estate marketing firm MLA Canada, estimates 17 concrete condo projects<\/a> encompassing 5,000 units have been delayed this year from launching sales throughout the Lower Mainland.<\/p>\n Saretsky suggests high supply levels could improve affordability, and speculates that might be a positive development in CMHC’s eyes. “I think that’s going to put some pressure on prices,” he adds.<\/p>\n CMHC suggests nearby Victoria, as well as Toronto and its environ Hamilton might soon have a reduced risk rating.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n