What is the Sales To Active Listing (List to sale Ratio)

If you've been checking out Vancouver real estate stats or maybe you overheard a realtor or mortgage broker at the table beside you mention a “sales to active listing ratio” and wondered what the heck that is this is the video for you.

As defined by the real estate Board of greater Vancouver sales to active listing ratio measures supply and demand by looking at the total supply of homes for sale compared to sales during the month

BUYER’S MARKET 12% OR BELOW
BALANCED MARKET 12-20%
SELLER’S MARKET 20%

To calculate this out you take the sales, for that time period depending on how you’re calculating it but usually it’s monthly, and you divided by the amount of active listings, which are listings that are currently available for sale.  As defined by the Vancouver Real Estate board, higher percentage means a larger portion of available listings have sold which indicates buyer demand. A sales active listing ratio above 20% indicates a sellers market that buyers demand could be working for you as the seller!
I sales to active listing race between 12 and 20% is actually considered a balance market which can mean the sellers and the buyers have about the same clout. And that usually results in the home prices rising with the long-term average rate. Nothing too crazy is going on.
Finally a sales to active listing ratio below 12% indicates more homes for sale in that area because a smaller percentage of the available listings are actually selling. Now that is considered a buyers market. Which can mean the sales are working in the favour of the buyer. They have more to select from and because there’s usually less active buyers in that circumstance those who are selling have a little less negotiating power.

And that is the sales to active listing ratio… it is important to note however.. Like everything in the real estate market just because there’s a ratio, or some numbers to back up an idea it does not necessarily mean that the home or property that you were looking at will play into the “typically market” indicator. Their are many factors to consider when buying or selling.

As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions! All the best