Metro Vancouver housing sales remain sluggish in May

Housing sales in Greater Vancouver were22.9 per cent lower last month than the 10-year average and the lowest for Maysince 2000, according toa report by Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) published Tuesday.

The real estate board saysa total of 2,638 homes were sold in May 2019, a 6.9 per cent drop from the 2,833 homes sold in May 2018.

However, sales were up 44.2 per cent from the 1,829 homes sold in April.

Supply the highest since September 2014

The board's report says the supply of residential units in May 2019 was on the highest since September 2014.

A total of 14,685 homes arecurrently listed for saleon the MLSdatabase in Metro Vancouver, a 30 per cent jump from the 11,292 homes listed in May 2018.

Condosales more sluggish than detached homes

Last month, 1,246 condos were sold, a 12.9 per cent decreasefrom the 1,431 condos sold in May last year, according to the report.

The benchmark price of a Metro Vancouver condo is currently $664,200, a 7.3 per cent decrease from May last year.

The numberofdetached home salesin May wasmore positive in comparison, but wasstill down 1.4 percent from May 2018.

The benchmark price for a detached house in the region is currently$1,421,900, an 11.5 per cent drop from May last year.

REBGVpresident Ashley Smith says high home pricesand mortgage qualification issues caused by the federal government's B20 stress testare significant factors in the decline in sales.