It appears that sales in North Vancouver have been on an upswing since the start of 2024. Having said this, we are still below historical averages.
The market appears to have demand keeping up with the inventory levels, with some pressure on the detached $1,800,000 to $2,200,000 home price band. Inventory on the North Shore rose, and there was more product to sell in the marketplace.
In North Vancouver sales rose 38.5 per cent from January and saw a year-over-year increase of 9.5 per cent. Despite this, sales were 26.4 below the 10-year February average.
New listings were up 36.5 percent from February 2023, while total listings were up 8.0 percent from the same time, ending the month at 484 homes for sale – 14.3 percent below the 10-year February average.
A lot of buyers are watching interest rates in relation to their timing of purchasing in the market.
Inflation numbers did decrease from 3.4% in December to 2.9% in January. The February data will report on March 19th. The central bank has an overall goal of having inflation down to 2%. The next rate announcement will be April 10th, 2024.
You can read the full Bank of Canada release here.
Variable rates will come down as inflation comes down; they are projecting inflation to stabilize thru 2024 and get to their target in 2025. Economists are suggesting we see them start to come down the 2nd half this year.
Fixed rates remain the popular choice with clients, primarily the 3-year term. 5-year Fixed ( uninsured - 20% or more down ) - 5.09%. It works out to about $540/ $100,000 mortgage on a 30-year Amortization which is the max for the uninsured.
Fixed rates are driven by bond yields which forecast what the expectation on rates is. These bond yields have come in the past month from 3.8% to 3.4% which is a ~10% decrease. Fixed rates in some cases are now in the sub 5% range.