We saw a final push at the end of 2015 uncharacteristic of most Decembers. Although both inventory and sales dropped significantly from November to December, prices remained strong and in fact surged in certain market segments. We continued to see multiple offer scenarios through to the end of the year.

It will come as no surprise given the above that both the North Vancouver and West Vancouver markets remained sellers’ markets for December. The North Vancouver detached market had a 100% sales ratio average for last month while the attached market had a 93% sales ratio.

Detached homes in North Vancouver sold on average 7% above list price in December whereas attached homes sold on average at list price. The most active price band in North Vancouver for detached homes is the large spread between $1,000,000 and $1,750,000, which band has a 100% sales ratio. The average price of a detached home in North Van for December was $1,493,000, just down from $1.5 million the previous month. The average price of an attached home sold in North Vancouver for December was $479,900 slightly up from the prior month. Upper Lonsdale, Lynn Valley, Canyon Heights, and Edgemont were the busiest areas of North Vancouver. No area of North Vancouver was experiencing a real drought where listings lingered on the market. Average time to sell a detached home in North Van was 8 days in December.

The West Vancouver market saw a 28% sales ratio for detached homes and a 22% sales ratio for attached homes in December. Sales were occurring on average 3% below list price for detached homes and 1% below asking price for attached homes. The average price for a detached home in West Vancouver rose in December to an annual high of $3,000,000, which is up from $2,133,800 last December. Detached homes on average took a total of 36 days to sell in December. The Ambleside and Dundarave markets as well as the British Properties saw the most action last month, while areas out west such as Caulfield, Horseshoe Bay, and Bayridge were slower.

Well, that concludes an absolutely break-neck year for real estate on the North Shore. We saw extremely low inventory, high demand, and rapidly rising prices over the past year. Although the falling oil prices and Canadian dollar are clearly affecting many parts of our country, the effects have not been felt here in the North Shore housing market (or in the Vancouver housing market generally). While nobody knows what the future holds, for now our market remains strong.