Surging market putting more and more Vancouver homes out of reach

2015 has seen modest or negative real estate price growth in all but two Canadian markets – namely, Vancouver and Toronto. Taking these two areas into account, average resale home price across Canada went up by 10.2 per cent.

In particular, the latest official figures showed that the MLS home price index (the rate of price changes over time) for the Vancouver market as of December 2015 was up by 18.9 per cent from 2014. Also, the benchmark for detached-house properties went up by 24.3 per cent over the same period, representing a price of $1,248,000.

This trend has prompted the increased popularity of the #DontHaveAMillion hashtag among disgruntled would-be owners, highlighting the invisible barrier that looms over a growing fraction of the purchasing population. This is in conjunction with the number of Vancouver homes listed for sale last year, which was among the area’s lowest historically.

Compounding the situation for prospective buyers are the latest mortgage rule changes that will saddle consumers going for properties worth more than $500,000 with larger down payments.

Despite rumbling discontent, however, the burgeoning market is showing no signs of stopping as 2015 home sales went up by almost 28 per cent, translating to 42,326 transactions in that year alone. Vancouver property assessments have seen a corresponding increase to 30 per cent.

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