The Real Story on Greater Vancouver’s Housing Supply

With the federal election come and gone, a fall market in full swing and COVID-19 cases starting to come down one would have thought we would see some kind of increase in the number of new listings and active listings in the Greater Vancouver real estate market. But alas, quite the opposite. The well has become much drier. Instead of climbing above 10,000 active listings in Greater Vancouver we are just over 8,000 -- the lowest we’ve seen in over 30 years. The trend of fall markets is typically seeing the activity wind down as we move through October and as the Holiday season approaches. While we don’t have snow to contend with here in Metro Vancouver, the atmospheric river we’ve just been through doesn’t make it enticing to be out wandering the home circuit. But the real storm right now is a true lack of homes available, and that is what is stifling the real estate market the most.

The fact that we are talking about numbers being the lowest in 30 years is baffling considering Canadian Census records show that the number of private dwellings has grown by over 26% since 2001. One would think that a measured increase in the number of private dwellings in Metro Vancouver would equate to a similar increase in the number of active listings for sale. Not the case at all. This is something government should think about when creating policy around housing and the way it is sold. Measures to control demand typically interfere with the motivation to sell. So, if more supply is needed, then perhaps a carrot to entice selling is needed rather than a stick to control demand.
 
Of course, without homes to purchase, sellers are also hesitant to list their homes when they need to find their next home to move to and fear they won’t. Is the message getting through to government that a concentrated effort is needed to supply more homes in the market? Time will tell, but the current count of active listings tells us that there just are not enough homes available for today’s population. And with British Columbia being one of the leading provinces in population growth from within Canada and internationally, where is everyone going to live?

Here is my October 2021 Snapstats newsletter.