Home sales in Vancouver have fallen to their lowest level since 2000, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reported Thursday, with all housing types registering declines. That means sales are even lower now than they were during the 2008-09 financial crisis, when Canada's housing markets were hit by a brief but sharp slowdown.

VANCOUVER – The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 7,055 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) across the province in July, a 23.9 per cent decrease from the same month last year.

The average MLS residential price in BC was $695,990, down 0.4 per cent from July 2017. Total sales dollar volume was $4.9 billion, a 24.2 per cent decline from July 2017.

“The BC housing market continues to grapple with the sharp decline in affordability caused by tough new mortgage qualification rules,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “However, less frenetic housing demand has created more balanced market conditions in many regions, leading to fewer multiple offers and more choice for consumers.”

Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume was down 18.9 per cent to $37 billion, compared with the same period in 2017. Residential unit sales decreased 20.6 per cent to 50,926 units, while the average MLS residential price was up 2.1 per cent to $725,639.

Home sales in Vancouver have fallen to their lowest level since 2000, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reported Thursday, with all housing types registering declines.

That means sales are even lower now than they were during the 2008-09 financial crisis, when Canada's housing markets were hit by a brief but sharp slowdown, reported HuffPost Canada.

"With fewer buyers active in today's market, we're seeing less upward pressure on home prices across the region," REBGV president Phil Moore said in a statement.

Indeed, the condo market has slowed sharply in Vancouver in recent months. In January, 57 condos sold for every 100 active listings on the market; by July, that had come down to 27 condos sold. That's still considered a "seller's market," but just barely.

Among detached homes, only nine out 100 active listings sold in July — a clear sign of a "buyer's market."

As sales slow, the supply of housing on the market is growing. There were 12,137 homes of all types on the Vancouver market in July, up 32 per cent from a year earlier.

But the sales slump has so far not been enough to improve Vancouver's housing affordability situation. Recent research from Simon Fraser University adjunct professor Andy Yan found Vancouver is the least affordable housing market in North America. Royal Bank of Canada's measure of affordability found that the cost of owning a home was at a record high in the city in the first quarter of this year.