Burnaby home prices still rising

Home prices continue to rise month-over-month in Metro Vancouver, and Burnaby is no exception.

Detached home and apartment prices have risen across the city, according to a new report by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

“Despite elevated borrowing costs, there continues to be too little resale inventory available relative to the pool of buyers in Metro Vancouver,” said Andrew Lis, REBGV’s director of economics and data analytics, in a news release. “This is the fundamental reason we continue to see prices increase month over month across all segments.”

In Burnaby, the estimated price of a typical property (called the benchmark price), ranged from about $1.03 million in north Burnaby to $1.19 million in east Burnaby. South Burnaby saw a benchmark price of $1.12 million last month across all property types.

North Burnaby saw a 0.9 per cent increase from May, east Burnaby a 2.7 per cent increase, and South Burnaby a 1 per cent increase from the previous month.

But in the last year, prices have dropped a little. North Burnaby saw its residential benchmark drop 3.7 per cent from a year ago – but it’s still up 26.8 per cent from three years ago.

And townhome prices in east Burnaby fell slightly since May, with a benchmark of $863,500 (down 1.3 per cent, but up 27.1 per cent from three years ago).

The REBGV is calling on the provincial government to adjust the threshold for the first-time homebuyers’ exemption from the property transfer tax.

The REBGV noted the benchmark price for apartments in the region is now $767,000 – while the current threshold for the first-time buyers’ tax exemption is $525,000.

“This is a simple policy adjustment that could help more first-time buyers afford a home right now,” Lis said.

In Burnaby last month, there were 65 detached homes sold (median selling price: $2 million), 67 attached homes (median price: $990,000), and 258 apartments sold (median price: $738,000), according to the REBGV data.

Benchmark prices for apartments

• Burnaby East: $798,600 (up 1.2 per cent this month)

• Burnaby North: $753,800 (up 0.1 per cent this month)

• Burnaby South: $812,100 (up 0.8 per cent this month)

Benchmark prices for townhomes

• Burnaby East: $863,500 (down 1.3 per cent this month)

• Burnaby North: $903,500 (up 0.1 per cent this month)

• Burnaby South: $997,800 (up 0.6 per cent this month)

Benchmark prices for detached homes

• Burnaby East: $1.91 million (up 4.8 per cent this month)

• Burnaby North: $2.04 million (up 2.9 per cent this month)

• Burnaby South: $2.2 million (up 1.7 per cent this month)

Source