Greater Vancouver home prices rise amid increasing demand: report

The latest on the housing market We take a look at the latest report on home sales and see how the market was impacted by an interest rate cut across Canada and here in B.C.

House prices in British Columbia's Lower Mainland are rising again, with the median value of detached homes in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley seeing the largest increases, according to the latest market report from RE/MAX.

The real estate company says the median values are rising due to increasing demand and a continued shortage of affordable housing supply for first-time buyers.

The shortage has lifted the median price of a detached home in East Vancouver to $1.975 million, up 4.6 per cent since last year. On the city's west side, median detached home prices rose 1.6 per cent to $3.56 million, according to the report.

"With first-time buyers locked out of the country's most expensive housing markets, move-up/down buyers and investors have been fuelling detached home-buying activity in the first six months of 2024 in the Greater Toronto Area, Greater Vancouver Area and Fraser Valley," RE/MAX said.

More than 83 per cent of Fraser Valley neighbourhoods are reporting a rise in median home prices in 2024, and 70 per cent of Vancouver neighbourhoods are reporting the same trend, RE/MAX said.

Detached homes in so-called recreational communities – Bowen Island, Squamish, West Vancouver and the Howe Sound area – are among the hottest sellers in 2024 "with many buyers seeking to combine the joy of nature with access to the city," the company says.

Squamish has seen a 14.2 per cent increase in median detached housing price this year, while Burnaby reported at 10.8 per cent increase and Port Coquitlam saw an 8.6 per cent increase, according to the report.

The luxury end of Metro Vancouver real estate – homes priced mostly over $5 million – has seen a drop in activity in 2024, with many sellers pulling their listings for the summer, according to RE/MAX.

"Little activity is occurring at the upper end of the market, with 125 sales over $5 million logged in Greater Vancouver, down just over 17 per cent from year-ago levels," the reported noted, citing concerns about economic and political uncertainty hampering high-end sales.