A report published by Greater Vancouver Realtors found that condo sales decreased by approximately 20 per cent in April compared to the same period last year. The report also states that more than 2,000 new condos in Metro Vancouver are sitting unsold and empty. Adil Dinani, a Realtor with Royal LePage, says he’s never seen this much housing stock. “Now with over 16,000 listings on there on the real estate MLS, this is the most listings we’ve seen in over a decade,” he says. Dinani says the oversupply is leading to consequences for developers, with many presales hitting pause. “Developers require a certain percentage of their homes pre-sold in order to achieve their construction financing,” Dinani says. “If they feel like they can’t hit those targets, they’re probably going to hit pause and put projects on shelf until market conditions improve.” Long-established development company Boffo recently terminated its presales for a Burnaby project, returning all the deposits to buyers. Bryan Yu, an economist for Central 1 Credit Union, says the current market is the culmination of many factors that have been at play since the pandemic, including higher interest rates and surging prices. The high inventory means prices are dropping. The report found a two-per-cent decline in condo prices. Buyers hesitant to purchase Despite it being a buyers’ market, Yu says with the ongoing trade war with the U.S., many are still hesitant to make a big purchase. “I think when buyers are uncertain and they’re somewhat pessimistic on the economy, even easing prices and higher inventory aren’t really going to attract them at this point,” he says. “Clearly, we started the year with a situation brewing from down south where our largest trading partner was essentially threatening to tilt our economy into a recession, so that may have something to do with it,” says Andrew Lis, an economist with Greater Vancouver Realtors. As developers retreat from new building projects, some employees in the real estate industry are being laid off. Rennie Marketing Group, a large real estate company in Vancouver, laid off 25 per cent of its head office staff last week. Writing on his LinkedIn page, the company’s president Greg Zayadi says the 31 layoffs were “a necessary step in response to a changing market.” Dinani says the market may not be back to near normal for years. “The outlook for the real estate market for the balance of the year is relatively bleak,” he says.
