Home sales in Greater Vancouver took a sharp drop in August, as expected, one month after the introduction of the 15-per-cent foreign homebuyers tax.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says sales fell 26 per cent compared to the same month last year.
The report also says the benchmark price of detached houses, condos and town homes in Greater Vancouver reached a record $933,100, up 31.4 per cent from a year earlier.
The real estate board’s August report is expected to be released this morning.
Analysts had predicted a sharp decline following the tax, which came into effect on Aug. 2.
Realtor Steve Saretsky said sales of detached homes dropped 50 per cent in Richmond, Vancouver and Burnaby compared to the average number of sales in August between 2010 and 2014.
He left August 2015 out of his calculation because it was an abnormally hot month.
RBC senior economist Robert Hogue said a number of data sources confirmed a sharp drop-off for the first half of August, but it will take months to see whether the initial blow will be sustained.
He said the market had already begun to cool after an all-time high in February for a number of reasons, including a lack of affordable homes that was hurting demand.
Meantime, on Vancouver Island, sales hit record-breaking numbers in Greater Victoria.
August saw 883 properties sold through the Victoria Real Estate Board’s multiple listing service, leading to a total sales value of $496 million.
That’s up by 19.2 per cent from the 741 properties sold in August 2015 and sets the sixth consecutive monthly sales record, the Victoria Real Estate Board said Friday.
The benchmark price for a typical single-family house in the Victoria core area is now at $746,900. A year ago, it was $603,200.
