The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says December home sales rose compared with a year earlier as the region closed out 2023 with balanced market conditions despite high borrowing costs.
The board says 1,345 homes changed hands in December, a 3.2 per cent increase from the same month in 2022, but 36.4 per cent below the 10-year seasonal average.
There were 1,327 new listings of detached, attached and apartment properties last month, a 9.9 per cent increase from a year earlier, as new listings were 22.7 per cent below the 10-year seasonal average.
The composite benchmark home price in December for Metro Vancouver was $1,168,700, a five per cent increase from December 2022, but down 1.4 per cent from November 2023.
Andrew Lis, the board's director of economics and data analytics, says higher borrowing costs haven't been enough to dissuade buyers from entering the market, but that "the story of 2023 is one of too few homes available relative to the pool of willing and qualified buyers."
He says prices rose due to near record-low inventory levels last spring after sellers were reluctant to list their properties early in the year, forcing buyers to compete for the available homes.
