Vancouver housing costs hit new high as sales go up

Vancouver home prices climbed to a record high this summer, as economists warn that overall housing costs in the West Coast city of Canada have reached risky levels.

The average price for single-family detached house in Greater Vancouver jumped 20 percent over the past year, to a record 1.1 million U.S. dollars.

But home prices in Shaughnessy, an exclusive part of Vancouver's Westside, are much higher, with several homes listed for at least 7.5 million U.S. dollars each.

Les Twarog, a Vancouver real estate agent, told Xinhua that many people wanted to buy a house in Shaughnessy because of good schools and the proximity to downtown. He said prices here had been higher while the sales market has never been hotter.

Despite the rapid climb of prices, many deals are still getting done. Twarog said there were currently 89 listings in Shaughnessy and there were 17 sales in July, while a typical July sees five or six sales.

Meanwhile, a report from the Royal Bank of Canada said that overall housing affordability in key markets like Toronto and Vancouver has never been worse, amid rapidly increasing real estate prices.

Robert Hague, a RBC senior economist, also said housing affordability was getting pretty close to the level of never-seen-before.

Hague told Xinhua on the phone in Toronto that record high prices had not quelled sales activity.

Across Greater Vancouver, 3,362 detached homes, condos and townhouses were sold last month, up 21.3 percent from August 2014.

But the high prices are forcing many Vancouverites entirely out of the housing market.

"First and foremost the main consequence is that for first time buyers, the bar to become an owner has risen quite tremendously over the past many years so anyone considering or hoping to become the owner of a single detached, near the core of Vancouver, is ... better have very deep pockets," he added. Endi