The overall Vancouver condo and townhouse market is active up to 1.8 million dollars. In my last month’s market update for Olympic Village I spoke of how the foreign buyer’s tax and new mortgage rules was an added contribution to an already slowing market. As we approach the end of 2016 there has now been enough time to collect enough information and data to get a clear understanding of where the market is and what we can most likely expect in the early months of 2017.
To date Olympic Village condos and townhouses have returned to a more balanced market in the sub 1.8 million dollar price category. The majority of the sales for this month were one and two bedroom condos priced under 1 million dollars. November sales in the luxury condo and townhouse market have been very slow but it is important to note that there have been 2 new developments in False Creek Olympic Village that went to pre-sale this fall that had many sales in the luxury price category. These new pre-sale developments could have affected the luxury Olympic Village resale market from September to date. One of the new developments being Avenue One. Bank of Canada did not raise interest rates as expected and went on to say we may not see an interest rate hike till the end of 2018. Low interest rates and a close to zero percent vacancy rate will continue to fuel the lower price range condo and townhouse sales in Olympic Village into 2017.
I have provided data below that shows where the activity is in relation to price ranges.
Number of monthly sales for Olympic Village False Creek
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov |
| 18 | 29 | 43 | 29 | 29 | 36 | 25 | 21 | 16 | 13 | 18 |
*Absorption rate is calculated by taking the number of homes that sold in a month and divide it by the total number of homes for sale at the end of the month.
0-14% Buyer’s Market
15%-20% Balanced Market
21%+ Seller’s Market
Olympic Village False Creek sales data for the month of November 2016
Number of listings 53
Number of sales 18
Absorption rate 31%
Olympic Village False Creek Sales Activity by Price Range
| Price Range | Listings | Sales | Absorption Rate |
| 0 – $500,000 | 2 | 6 | 100% |
| $500,001-$700,000 | 21 | 5 | 23% |
| $700,001-$1,000,000 | 21 | 5 | 31% |
| $1000,000-$1,500,000 | 7 | 2 | 16% |
| $1,500,001-$2,500,000 | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| $2,500,001-$5,000,000 | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| $5,000,000 plus | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Total | 58 | 18 | 31% |
For further information please call or email me.
Written by Don Urquhart Vancouver real estate agent since 1987 – Olympic Village False Creek specialist