The days of rapidly rising house process in Delta have skidded to a halt.
The latest stats from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver for last month showed another decrease in residential property sales with a 38.8 per cent drop compared to sales recorded in October 2015, and a 0.9 per cent decrease compared to September 2016.
Last month's sales were also 15 per cent below the 10-year October sales average.
"Changing market conditions compounded by a series of government interventions this year have put home buyers and sellers in a holding pattern," said REBGV president Dan Morrison.
"Potential buyers and sellers are taking a waitand-see approach to try and better understand what these changes mean for them."
The "benchmark price" for a single-family detached house in Ladner was $1,035,800, a 2.7 per cent decrease from September 2016. However, it's still 30.1 per cent higher compared to October 2015.
For Tsawwassen, the price was $1,253,400, a 1.3 per cent dip from the previous month.
However, once again, it's still 31.3 per cent more than a year ago. Until the province introduced a new tax on foreign buyers this summer, housing prices saw sharp monthto-month increases with Tsawwassen leading the way in overall price percentage increases from year-to-year. Now, Tsawwassen doesn't lead the pack in year-to-year increases.
The government recently released its own stats indicating foreign purchasers were involved in 1.8 per cent of the residential property transfers in Metro Vancouver in September, accounting for 1.8 per cent of the total value of properties transferred in that period. Since the additional property transfer tax was introduced Aug. 2, the rate of foreign investment in residential real estate in Metro Vancouver was 1.3 per cent of the total transactions - a rate more consistent with the provincial average during that period of 1.7 per cent. From June 10 to Aug. 1, before the additional tax took effect, foreign purchasers were involved in 13.2 per cent of residential property transfers in Metro Vancouver, compared to 3.6 per cent in the rest of the province.
Meanwhile, as far as detached house prices in North Delta, the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board notes the "average price" was $848,376, a 0.5 per cent decrease from
September 2016. The price was 10 per cent higher compared to October 2015, a much smaller increase compared to South Delta.
The FVRB noted sales of all property types in October saw an overall decrease of 17.4 per cent compared to October of last year, but sales did see a 12.1 per cent increase from September 2016.
"Sales activity was healthy in October, especially in the townhome and apartment categories. With prices beginning to level-off, it appears that buyers are becoming more motivated to explore the Valley's available inventory," explained Charles Wiebe, board president.
