Last Date Modified Wednesday, December 12, 2018

VANCOUVER, B.C. - As property listings continue to outpace sales, Greater Vancouver housing prices have drawn back, the last two months, from the record highs experienced in early 2008.

Since May 2008, housing prices, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, across each
residential category have declined. Detached properties in Greater Vancouver declined 2.3 per cent
through June and July 2008, while attached were down 1 per cent and apartment properties 2 per cent
over the same period.

The overall benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver has declined 2.1 per
cent since the end of May 2008, from $568,411 to $556,605 in July 2008.

“We’re seeing more price reductions in properties listed on the market, which is having a levelling impact
on the housing price increases experienced at the end of last year and into the first quarter of 2008,”
said Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) president, Dave Watt. “There was a slight decline
in the total active listings on the market in July compared to June, which is a welcomed departure
from recent trends.”

Residential property sales in Greater Vancouver declined 43.9 per cent in July 2008 to 2,174 from the
3,873 sales recorded in July 2007.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties increased 24 per cent to 6,104 in July
2008 compared to July 2007, when 4,924 new units were listed.

Sales of detached properties in July 2008 declined 44.2 per cent to 827 from the 1,483 units sold during
the same period in 20070. The benchmark price for detached properties is up 5.4 per cent from July
2007 to $753,165.

Sales of apartment properties declined 42.3 per cent last month to 966, compared to 1,674 sales in July
2007. The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 4.7 per cent from July 2007 to $381,687.

Attached property sales in July 2008 decreased 46.8 per cent to 381, compared with the 716 sales in
July 2007. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 5.7 per cent between July 2007 and 2008
to $473,953.

The Real Estate industry is a key economic driver in British Columbia. In 2007, 38,050 homes changed hands in the Board’s area generating $1.065 billion in spin-offs. Total dollar volume of residential sales set a new record at $22.25 billion and total dollar volume of all sales set a record at $22.77 billion. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver is an association representing more than 9,500 REALTORS®. The Real Estate Board provides a variety of membership services, including the Multiple Listing Service®.

*In August 2004, the Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley boards upgraded our existing MLS systems to a common system called MLSLink. MLSLink® HPI is the latest version of the Board’s Housing Price Index (HPI) and is designed to accommodate the MLS upgrade and improve the legacy HPI product.

 

For more information please contact:
Craig Munn, Assistant Manager, Communications
Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver
Phone: (604) 730-3146 Fax: (604) 730-3102
E-mail: cmunn@rebgv.org