In last month’s coastal/southwest B.C. real estate market, the Sunshine Coast had the lowest benchmark price for detached single family residences at $927,700. That was over $250,000 lower than the second lowest benchmark price for the 22 regions reported on by the Greater Vancouver Realtors (GVR). Pitt Meadows' detached home benchmark price was closest to ours, at $1,179,600, according to statistics released by the GVR on March 4. (Benchmarks represent a typical property within each market.)
Detached single family residences dominate the Sunshine Coast real estate market accounting for 83 of the 100 listings and 31 of 38 sales reported for our area in February. Their benchmark price was less than a third of the value of benchmark price for stand-alone homes in Vancouver West ($3,493,200) and West Vancouver ($3,127,700). Half of the 22 regions the GVR reports on had benchmark pricing for single family detached homes that were double those on the Coast.
Detached home price see top level increases
But housing values on the Coast are on the rise, with the composite price for houses, townhouses and apartments growing at three per cent in the past year. That growth rate was higher than those reported for all but one of the GVR areas, with the percentage climb on Bowen Island reaching eight per cent. There were price declines in three of the 22 areas over that period.
Composite housing price changes over the past 10 years saw the Coast tally the second highest level of increase. Prices were 152 per cent higher than they were in 2015. Only Bowen Island had a sharper percentage rise in the last decade at 164 per cent. The 10-year price change was lowest in West Vancouver at 21.5 per cent.
On the Coast, the 10-year price change was highest for single family detached homes at 164 per cent. The increase in the prices for townhomes was 111 percent and 83 per cent for apartments.
This February's benchmark price for an apartment on the peninsula was $447,000, the lowest in the GRV area. That value was $75,000 less than in Maple Ridge, the area with the next lowest benchmark price of $522,500. On average, apartment prices on the Coast last month were just over one-third of the benchmark prices reported in West Vancouver.
At $629,200, the benchmark price of a townhome on the Coast in February was the lowest of the 22 areas reported on by the GVR. Ours was one of nine areas where that value came in at less than $1 million.
Listings decline in our area
The number of new "For Sale" listings on the Coast in February was 91 units, a slight decline from the 100 listings reported in the second month of 2024. Over all GVR areas, total new listings increased to 5,055 from 4,552 when comparing this February to last.
“With the active spring season just around the corner, it will be interesting to see whether buyers take advantage of some of the most favorable market conditions seen in years, and whether sellers change their willingness to bring their properties to market,” Andrew Lis, GVR’s director of economics and data analytics, stated in a press release that accompanied the statistical data.
