By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com – Housing prices in Vancouver fell 9.3% year over year in February to $1,123,400, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reported today. However, February prices rose 1.1% month on month compared to January..
Sales in February rebounded sharply, up 76.9% from January, but were down 47.2% from the year before and approximately 33% below the 10-year February sales average.
The number of homes for sale in the region have been increasing, up 16.7% year over year, and 5.2% from January.
The once red-hot Canadian housing market has cooled substantially over the last year as the Bank of Canada raised interest rates eight consecutive times from 0.25% early last year to their current level of 4.5%.
The Bank of Canada’s increase to its benchmark policy rate sent prime lending rates at Canadian financial institutions soaring, from around 2.5% last year to their current level of 6.7% cooling demand from homeowners as mortgage costs soar.
However, at its most recent monetary policy announcement, the Bank of Canada announced a “conditional pause” to its rate hikes depending on incoming data.
In terms of what’s ahead for the Vancouver housing market, Andrew Lis, REBGV’s director of economics and data analytics notes “While we continue to expect home price trends to show year-over-year declines for a few more months, current data and market activity suggest pricing is firming up.”
“In fact, some leading indicators suggest we may see modest price increases this spring, particularly if sales activity increases and mortgage rates hold steady.”