Condominium apartment sales now dominate the Greater Vancouver housing market but the intense demand drove the November benchmark price to a record high of $752,800, reports the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

In November, 1,828 condos sold, up 33.8% from the same month in 2020, while sales of detached houses fell 7%, year-over-year, to just 987 transactions and townhouse sales were down 3% to 632 units.

Even with the November benchmark condo price increasing 11.4% from a year ago – that is an annual cash return of about $85,000 , by the way – and up nearly 1% from a month earlier, apartments remain the least costly option for buyers in Canada’s most expensive housing environment.

The benchmark price for a detached house in Greater Vancouver in November was $1.87 million, up 20.8% from November 2020 and 1% higher than in October 2021.

The townhouse benchmark price is now $990,000, more than 20% higher than a year ago.

Total November transactions were 33.6% above the 10-year November sales average.

“We expect home sale totals to end the year at or near an all-time record in our region,” Keith Stewart, REBGV economist said. “We’ve had elevated home sale activity throughout 2021 despite persistently low levels of homes available for sale. With a new year around the corner, it’s critical that this supply crunch remains the focus for addressing the housing affordability challenges in our region.”

The total number of homes currently listed for sale in Greater Vancouver is 7,144, a 35.7% decrease compared with November 2020 and a 11.1% decrease compared with October 2021, when more than 8,000 homes were on the market.

For all property types, the sales-to-active listings ratio for November 2021 is 48%. By property type, the ratio is 33.8% for detached homes, 74.3% for townhomes, and 53.7% for apartments, the REBGV reports.

Condominium apartments also dominate new residential construction in Metro Vancouver, but rapid pre-sales at new projects is cutting into the inventory.

There are currently 25,088 new condos under construction across Metro Vancouver, which includes Surrey and Langley, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., but the total inventory of new and “unabsorbed” units was just 1,492 units as of November 1, the lowest level in three years.

An October study by research group MLA Canada estimated that up to 40% of pre-sale condos were selling within a month of a project’s launch.

Typical Greater Vancouver Condo Now Costs $752,800 by Western Investor | BIV