Luxury Home Sales Plummeted in 2018!
Don’t think that the decline in sales in the Vancouver market is only affecting one section. Luxury home sales are taking a decline as well, actually even more so.
Homes that sold for over $1 million fell 26% to 3,151 units sold in 2018 from 4,282 units sold in 2017. The number is almost double for homes over $4 million, with sales plummeting 49% to 195 units sold in 2018 — down from 382 units sold in 2017.
Perhaps you thought that because a home is worth $xx million that the owners are flowing in this money. This isn’t necessarily the case, especially with a declining market and the fact that it’s even more difficult than previous years to sell multi million dollar homes. If the home cannot sell, these numbers are not advantageous to the owner, rather they equate to higher property taxes and more home maintenance than smaller, less expensive homes.
The dailyhive reports:
“Homes sold for over $1 million fell 26% to 3,151 units sold in 2018 from 4,282 units sold in 2017.
The drop is even more staggering for $4-million plus luxury homes, with sales plummeting 49% to 195 units sold in 2018 — down from 382 units sold in 2017.
As 2018 progressed, sales activity took a dive; sales over $1 million and over $4 million in the last two quarters of 2018 fell by 36% and 51%, respectively, compared to 2017.
Single-family detached homes over $1 million became “deeply entrenched in buyers’ market territory” after sales fell by 35% year-over-year. As well, $1-million plus sales for top-tier condominiums dropped by 14% to 1,107 units.
Townhouses over $1 million also fell, but this was largely a result from a lack of inventory.”
How taxes have changed prices…
As a result of the foreign buyers tax being 20%, this has been a contributing factor to the slowed down the activity in the luxury market. New government policies seem to have a “negligible” over all effect on these statistics.
Some of the taxes to be ware of include: the newly implemented Empty Homes Tax, increased annual school taxes for the portion of assessed home values above $3 million, and the introduction of a new 0.5% speculation tax for the 2018 tax year dampened confidence in the Vancouver housing market.
“While top-tier activity is expected to lag previous years, pent up demand from buyers and sellers who refrained from participating in 2017 and 2018 will flow into the market in the spring.”
Opportunities for new home owners come into play in a market like this. Change is inevitable, so let’s see how we can all work with the information that is before us to create success!
For more information on real estate market in Vancouver, current trends, buying a home or selling a home, contact Leo Wilk – Your Top Vancouver Realtor.
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