Why are Vancouver realtors listing fewer properties?
If you live in the Greater Vancouver Area, chances are you know a realtor or two in your life. Whether it’s your cousin, uncle, parent, sibling, friend, odds are you aren’t too many degrees of separation away from someone who makes their living selling houses.
Back in 2004, you might have also known a realtor, but that realtor’s existence looked much different. In 2004, the average Vancouver realtor listed about five attached properties (condos and townhouses) and five detached properties (houses).
Fast forward to today, that number has gone down drastically. Now, in 2019 the average realtor lists about just over 3 and a half attached properties and less than 2 and a half detached properties.
What’s causing this decline? Here are three reasons why according to Roomvu market analytics:
1. The number of agents in the Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley Areas doubled from 2000 – 2017
Vancouver’s red-hot real estate market encouraged real estate agents to get in on the action. At its peak, there were just under 14,000 active agents in Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley areas. The growth in the number of realtors, which was nearly 100%, far outpaced the growth in population, which was 30%. Simply put, there has been an increasing amount of realtors going after a pie that wasn’t growing nearly as fast.
2. The top one percent takes a huge slice of the pie
Over the last two decades, the top one percent of Greater Vancouver realtors listed or bought 14.5 percent of all properties and the top five percent of agents listed or bought 39 percent of all properties. Leaving the remaining 61 percent of the market to be shared by the remaining 95 percent of realtors. So while the average realtor was involved in about 7 housing deals in 2018, the top 5 percent presented an average of 33 properties, and the top 1 per cent presented a staggering 57 properties on average.
3) Government action has impacted the housing market
Last year, the federal, provincial and municipal governments introduced policies to curb housing prices and speculation. The BC Real Estate Association (BCREA) estimates that housing sales would have been approximately 10 percent, or 7,500 units, higher if one of those policies, the B20 mortgage stress, the test hadn’t been introduced.
Something as complex as the economy of the Vancouver housing market is obviously impacted by more than just three factors that push and pull prices up and down. But one thing is clear: the data show that the number of agents is going down, and the number of listings per agent is at its lowest level this century.