Metro Vancouver real estate board warns demand outpacing supply

BETHANY LINDSAY (VANCOUVER SUN)  Buyers continued to snatch up homes in Metro Vancouver last month, and realtors are warning that the region’s real estate demand is outpacing the supply.

The number of all types of residential property sales last month was up 37 per cent over April 2014 to 4,179, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. Meanwhile, the number of new listings was down 0.9 per cent compared to a year earlier.

“The supply of homes for sale today in the region is not meeting the demand we're seeing from home buyers. This is putting upward pressure on prices, particularly in the detached home market," Darcy McLeod, the real estate board’s president, said in a news release.

“It’s a competitive and fast-moving market today that is tilted in favour of home sellers.”

A total of 12,436 greater Vancouver homes are currently listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service, down 0.5 per cent from March’s numbers and 19.8 per cent since April 2014.

Meanwhile, the so-called benchmark price for a typical residential property in Metro Vancouver now sits at $673,000, according to the real estate board. That’s an 8.5-per-cent increase over a year ago. The benchmark price for a detached home is set at $1.079 million, up 12.5 per cent over April 2014.