Metro Vancouver Real Estate Market Report for November 2020
2nd place November record sales – but predictable seasonal dip in trend.

Meryl’s Market Insight

November sales followed a predictable winter seasonal dip but still set a 2nd place record over a 10 year period. Continuing from the previous month’s report, where we showed that this pandemic has had a significant historic effect on the townhome market segment, we present November’s “Not Too Shabby” numbers.

November sales compared across 10 year monthly history.


Detached Home Sales: 1061, 5.6% ▲ above the 10 year average; This is greater than 55.9% of all sales dating 10 years back. Statistically this means that detached home sales are close to the median and not a significant deviation from norm.

Townhome Sales: 632, 57.6% ▲ above the 10 year average; This is greater than 95.6% of all sales dating 10 years back. Statistically this is very significant and shows a clear deviation in demand for townhomes. Not as great as last month but NOT TOO SHABBY!

Condo Sales: 1371, a 16.3% ▲ above the 10 year average; This is greater than 70.5% of all sales dating 10 years back. Statistically this is slightly more than 1 standard deviation away from the average and shows slightly significant increase from norm.

ASIDE: There are – of course – factors other than pandemic that are driving an increase in home sales – including low interest rates, banking confidence, recent government measures to try to regulate insurance premiums, etc.

Vancouver seasonal real estate trends for Nov 2020 | Meryl.REALTOR

November homes sales is the 2nd highest on record in 10 years.

There were 3,064 home sales, an increase of 22.7% ▲ from last year and a 16.9% ▼decrease from last month. Sales were the 2nd highest November on record 24.6%▲ above the 10 year seasonal average.

The total inventory of homes listed for sale on the MLS® system in Metro Vancouver were 11,118 a 3.2% ▲ increase compared to last year and a 10.5% ▼ decrease compared to last month.

There were a total of 4,068 newly listed properties for sale across Metro Vancouver in Nov 2020. This represents a 36.2% ▲ increase compared to last year and a 27.0% ▼ decrease compared to last month.

The supply of homes has fallen behind demand and will be a critical factor in market pricing and trends. While demand is elevated across the board, sales activity focussed in areas of lower mainland & Fraser Valley in areas outside the denser core regions.

Vancouver real estate market stats summary graphic November 2020

Benchmark Prices

Overall November benchmark prices of homes have increased.

The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $1,044,000. This represents a 5.8%▲ increase over last year and a 0.1%▼ decrease compared to last month.

The benchmark price for a detached home is $1,538,900, a 9.4% ▲ incrase from last year and a 1.0% ▲ increase compared to last month.

The benchmark price of an apartment is $676,500, a 3.4% ▲ increase from last year and unchanged 1% ▼ decrease compared to last month.

The benchmark price of an attached home is $814,800, a 5.6% ▲ increase from last year and a 0.2% ▲ increase compared to last month.

Sales to Active listing ratios

The sales-to-active-listings ratio is defined as the number of home sales divided-by the number of listed homes during the month.
For all property types, the sales-to-active listings ratio for November 2020 is 27.6%.

By property type, the sales-to-active-ratios are:
Detached Homes: 27.9%
Townhomes: 40.1%
Condos: 23.9%

Generally, analysts say downward pressure on home prices occurs when the ratio dips below 12% for a sustained period, while home prices often experience upward pressure when it surpasses 20% over several months.

Greater Vancouver Market Report Summary for November 2020