The market peaked in May 2017 not 2016
Josh Sherman
other
To get a handle on how detached home values in Vancouver have evolved since 2016, the year the province started taxing foreign buyers, Glacier Media analyzed median prices — and the results may come as a surprise.
Contrary to what some might believe, the market did not peak in the spring of 2016, just before BC slapped a 15-percent levy on non-resident homebuyers in Metro Vancouver, the study from the business info and media company suggests.
The market instead reached a new high of $1.5 million in May of 2017, according to Glacier Media’s analysis presented in a new infographic. And as recently as this summer, pricing had returned to around the $1.4-million level, before cooling slightly in the fall.
“We chose to use median prices rather than averages, as median prices are not skewed by extremes at either end of the market,” writes Joannah Connolly of Glacier Media Real Estate in the Vancouver Courier.
“The same infographic for average prices would show a larger price decline since the market peak, as there have been relatively fewer sales of very high-end homes,” Connolly continues.
Connolly notes that north of the $3-million mark, there are substantial price drops. “The same infographic for that market alone would tell a very different story.”
The Glacier Media analysis differs from a recent National Bank report, which explored when home prices peaked in 26 housing markets across the country.
According to National Bank, Vancouver’s market hit a new high this May.
But the bank’s calculations included all housing types, and it was based off the Teranet-National Bank House Price Index, which relies on sale prices in public land registries, meaning there is a lag of one to two months from the time the transaction is recorded.
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