By Sammy Hudes
The region’s 1,765 home sales last month were still 14.9% below the 10-year seasonal average for December, Greater Vancouver Realtors said Friday.
The real estate board said there were 1,676 newly listed properties, up 26.3% from December 2023.
The composite benchmark price was $1,171,500, up 0.5% from a year earlier and 0.1% below November’s level.
“Although sales activity had a slower start to the year, price trends began 2024 on the rise and closed out the year on a flatter trajectory,” Andrew Lis, the board’s director of economics and data analytics, said in a press release.
“With the data showing renewed strength to finish the year, however, it looks as though the 2025 market is positioned to be considerably more active than we’ve seen in recent years.”
Earlier this week, B.C.’s latest property assessments showed values were generally flat compared to the previous year.
BC Assessment said prices only fluctuated within a range of plus or minus three per cent in most communities, including major urban areas such as Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna.
Average residential prices in Vancouver were down 0.8%. Average residential valuations dropped by two per cent in Victoria, and 2.9% in Kelowna.
The assessments reflected market conditions on July 1, 2024.
Overall, Vancouver-area home sales throughout 2024 rose 1.2% from the previous year, but the 26,561 total transactions were still 20.9% below the 10-year annual sales average, according to the real estate board.
There were 60,388 properties listed in Metro Vancouver in 2024, representing an 18.7% increase compared with 2023 and 5.7% above the region’s 10-year annual average.
The board said there are currently 10,948 homes listed for sale in the region, a 24.4% increase compared with December 2024 and around one-quarter above the 10-year seasonal average.
“Looking back on 2024, it could best be described as a pivot year for the market after experiencing such dramatic increases in mortgage rates in the preceding years,” said Lis.
“With borrowing costs now firmly on the decline, buyers have started to show up in numbers after somewhat of a hiatus — and this renewed strength is now clearly visible in the more recent monthly data.”
— With files from Chuck Chiang in Vancouver
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 3, 2025.
Visited 395 times, 23 visit(s) today
andrew lis british columbia Greater Vancouver Realtors Regional sammy hudes The Canadian Press vancouver vancouver home prices vancouver home sales vancouver housing market
Last modified: January 4, 2025
