According to MLA Advisory's August Pre-Sale Report, July saw an unusually high number of project releases, bringing over 1,900 units to market during the normally quieter summer season. A number of projects were delayed in the first half of the year, and many had their sales launch in July 2018.
“The summer market has been extremely active with new project launches as demand remains high with nearly 65 per cent of all inventory released in July now sold,” said Suzana Goncalves, Chief Advisory Officer of MLA Canada. “The pre-sale market in the Fraser Valley continues to strengthen as purchasers are realizing greater value with home prices for a one-bedroom condominium starting from $279,900 for woodframe and $364,900 for concrete buildings.”
A number of new multi-family projects continue to experience development application delays as municipal reviews are pushed back due to the summer holidays and upcoming 2018 General Elections. It is typical for developers to put a pause on submitting their development applications due in part to the pending changes in the political environment. The ripple effect includes delays with bylaws, permits and most importantly supply in our market, on top of the already lower than expected housing starts.
Gone are the days when home seekers would wait for the fall market to commence sales programs, and with limited inventory in Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley pre-sale demand remains strong. MLA Advisory is anticipating the launch of over 1,000 pre-sale units in August 2018.
The Advisory group at MLA Canada is forecasting more than 7,700 units for Q3 and Q4 of 2018. However, longer delays in municipal approvals are negatively impacting timelines for new multi-family developments with some projects being postponed at least three to five months.
