Vancouver real estate: West Side detached homes post biggest price increase amid decline in outlying markets

CARLITO PABLO (GEORGIA STRAIGHT) - The West Side of Vancouver has always been known not just as the wealthier section of the city.
It’s also the jewel of Metro Vancouver’s prime real-estate market.

Realtor Kevin Skipworth goes a step further. The partner, managing broker, and economist of Dexter Realty describes the West Side as the “epicenter of B.C. urbanity”.

Skipworth does so in a new report noting that the benchmark price of a detached home on the West Side increased 2.2 percent in June compared to May.

The realtor observed that it’s the highest increase for detached homes in markets served by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

In June 2021, the price of a detached home on the West Side of Vancouver rose to $3,458,300.
That’s also the highest price for a typical single-family home across all markets under the REBGV, which does not include Surrey.

West Vancouver comes second only at $3,152,50, posting a month-over-month increase of 0.4 percent.

The 2.2 percent increase in the price of a typical detached home on Vancouver’s West Side comes as prices of detached homes in other REBGV markets fell in June 2021.

In a report Tuesday (July 6), Skipworth described the decline as an “anomaly”.

“Outlying markets that had been posting the highest year-over-year price increases reported the biggest month-over-month decline in detached house prices in June,” Skipworth noted.

Across the REBGV region, the typical price of a detached home stayed flat or posted zero increase in June compared to May.

In East Vancouver, the benchmark price dipped -0.8 percent; Bowen Island, -0.9 percent; Burnaby East, -2 percent, Burnaby South, -0.6 percent; Ladner, -0.6 percent; New Westminster, -1.6 percent; Port Coquitlam, -1.6 percent; Richmond, -1.1 percent; Squamish, -2.8 percent; and Sunshine Coast, -0.5 percent.

In the report, Skipworth wrote that the increase in the benchmark price of a Vancouver West Side detached home is neither suprising nor a short-term trend.

“September is expected to welcome in the fourth and final phase of B.C.’s post-pandemic reopening. This means international borders will open, all businesses will be back in action and thousands of workers will return to the office.

“The big city will look increasingly tempting as hockey games open to crowds, major concerts tune up and Vancouver’s restaurants, pubs and theatres are open for business,” Skipworth stated.
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“Expect to see home sales and prices, not just in Vancouver but across the entire region, continue to increase. The reason is quite simply the undeniable law of supply of demand,” Skipworth added.