Summer doldrums: Greater Vancouver home sales sag in August

Home sales in Greater Vancouver in August sagged but there was “stability in prices,” said Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver president Eugen Klein Wednesday.

Total residential property sales in Greater Vancouver in August were the second lowest since 1998 and 39.2 per cent below the 10-year August sales average of 2,711.

Sales of detached, attached and apartment properties in August totalled 1,649, which was 30.7 per cent less than August of 2011 and a 21.4 per cent decline from 2,098 sales in July of 2012.

In terms of cost, the benchmark price of detached homes sold in August compared to August last year went up 0.2 per cent to $942,100.

Not faring as well were apartment and attached properties.

Apartment homes’ benchmark price in August was $370,100, or a drop of 0.9 per cent from August last year.

Attached properties slipped to $462,300, a drop of 1.9 per cent in August compared to the same time last year.

“It’s a buyer’s market based on availability,” said Klein. “Until we see a real change in price, there’s this tug of war between buyers and sellers.”

Sellers, said Klein, don’t want to lower their prices but buyers believe prices are going to move.

There’s also the matter of different conditions in different areas.

For example, detached homes on the west side of Vancouver are taking an average of 55 days to sell while homes on the east side are selling in 29 days.

In terms of price, condominiums in Port Coquitlam have dropped 7.9 per cent in the last year while condos in nearby Port Moody have gone up seven per cent in the same period.