The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales of detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver reached 3,225 in April 2011, an 8.2 per cent decrease compared to the 3,512 sales in April 2010 and a 21 per cent decline compared to the 4,080 sales in March 2011.

Looking back further, last month’s residential sales represent an 8.8 per cent increase over the 2,963 residential sales in April 2009, relatively unchanged compared to April 2008, and a 4.8 per cent decline compared to the 3,387 sales in April 2007.

“While it continues to be a seller’s market in Greater Vancouver, last month’s activity brought greater balance between supply and demand in the overall marketplace,” Rosario Setticasi, REBGV president said. “The year-over-year decline in April sales can be attributed to a less active condominium market on our MLS®, as there were more detached and townhome sales this April compared to last year.”

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 5,847 in April 2011. This represents a 23.5 per cent decline compared to April 2010 when 7,648 properties were listed for sale on the MLS®, which was an all-time record for April. Compared to March 2011, last month’s new listings total registered a 14 per cent decline.

At 14,187, the total number of residential property listings on the MLS® increased 8.2 per cent in April compared to last month and declined 10 per cent from this time last year.

“There’s considerable variation in activity within the communities in our region. This is causing home price trends to differ depending on the area,” Setticasi said. “Your local REALTOR® is a valuable resource for obtaining the most accurate, up-to-date market evaluation.”

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Activity in the Greater Vancouver housing market continued to strengthen in March with both the number of homes sold and added to the region’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) reaching near record levels. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales of detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver reached 4,080 in March 2011. This represents a 31.7 per cent increase compared to the 3,097 sales recorded in February 2011, an increase of 30.1 per cent compared to the 3,137 sales in March 2010 and an 80.1 per cent increase from the 2,265 home sales in March 2009. The all-time sales record for March occurred in 2004 when 4,371 transactions were recorded.

“Our market has had a very strong start to the spring season,” Rosario Setticasi, REBGV president said. “With home sales above 4,000 and nearly 7,000 home listings added to the MLS® in March, it’s clear that home buyers and sellers view this as a good time to be active in their local housing market.”

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 6,797 in March 2011. This represents a 3 per cent decline compared to March 2010 when 7,004 properties were listed for sale on the MLS®, an all-time record for March. Compared to February 2011, last month’s new listings total registered a 19.4 per cent increase. At, 13,110, the total number of residential property listings on the MLS® increased 9.9 per cent in March compared to last
month and declined 3 per cent from this time last year.

“Conditions favour sellers at the moment, but we’re seeing differences in home-price trends and overall activity depending on the region and property type,” Setticasi said.

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Downtown Attached Market Update March 1st – March 8th :

Attached supply downtown surged ahead this week after remaining relatively static for two consecutive weeks previously; we saw 177 new attached listings this week in the downtown neighbourhoods (up from 131 new attached listings last week), which equated to 63% of the aggregate 281 new attached listings across Vancouver West (up from 255 new attached listings previously).  The downtown neighbourhoods moved ahead of the Westside areas on the supply-side again this week after a fairly even-split previously, with the dens downtown core areas (including Yaletown, Gastown, and downtown proper) accounted for a large ratio of the new supply numbers.  We saw 103 new attached listings in the downtown core neighbourhoods (up from 67 new attached listings last week), which accounted for 58% of all listing activity downtown.  Coal Harbour fell back this week after making supply gains last week, with 16 new attached listings (down from 23 new attached listings last week), well False Creek North again remained stable with 15 new attached listings (the same listing volume we saw last week).  Sellers of attached property downtown have moved to meet a renewed demand we’ve seen building since the onset of 2011, and with the plethora of new supply we expect conditions to move towards equilibrium as buyers demand for new property is met by a flurry of new listing activity.  Keep in mind, however; that Spring is a traditionally popular period for sellers, so the new listing effect may be impacted positively by the time of year as well.

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Downtown Attached Market Update February 14th – February 21st :

Downtown attached listing supply remained stable again this week after increasing through the first two weeks of February.  We saw 131 new attached listings downtown this week (compared to 129 new attached listings in the previous period) , which represented 51% of the overall 255 new attached listings across Vancouver West (down slightly from the 54% we saw previously).  The high-density downtown core areas (Yaletown, Gastown, downtown proper) again led the way on the supply side with 67 new attached listings (which equated to 51% of all listing activity downtown), well Coal Harbour saw an attached supply surge this week with 23 new attached listings (up from 10 new attached listings last week). False Creek North remained stable on the supply side for the third consecutive week with 15 new attacehd listings (compared to 16 new attached listings last week).  Busy buyer activity has prompted a continual introduction of new properties to the market, with an influx of pan-Asian buyers and first time local buyers driving the market at the entry and mid-levels.

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Downtown Attached Market Update February 14th – February 21st :

Downtown attached listing conditions leveled off this week after trending upwards in the previous period; we saw 129 new attached listings across downtown (down slightly from 135 new attached listings last week), which accounted for 54% of the overall 241 new attached listings across Vancouver West (down from the 59% share we saw previously).  The downtown core neighbourhoods continued to demonstrate strong supply conditions as we saw 78 new attached sales across Yaletown, Gastown, and downtown proper (up from 72 new attached listings last week). Coal Harbour saw the bulk of the supply decrease (slight as it may have been) with 10 new attached listings this week (down from 17 new attached listings in the previous period) with False Creek North holding firm at 16 new attached listings (up from 15 new attached listings in the previous period).

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Downtown Attached Market Update January 31st – February 7th :

Confirmed attached sales volume remained quite stable for the second consecutive week (after trending upwards towards late-January) as we saw 52 confirmed attached sales downtown this week (compared to 53 confirmed attached sales in the previous period), which accounted for 40% of the aggregate 107 confirmed attached sales across Vancouver West (down from 50% last week).  The dense downtown core areas (including Yaletown, Gastown, and downtown proper) continued to lead the way with 28 confirmed attached sales, which equated to around 54% of all sales activity in the downtown neighbourhoods.  There remains a lack of mid-level supply as lower-tier two-bedrooms, and luxury one-bedrooms between the $400,000 – $550,000 ranges remained in demand amongst buyers.  Coal Harbour continued to post the weakest sales numbers downtown with 3 confirmed attached sales this week (compared to 4 confirmed sales previously). Our sales to listing ratio remained tilted towards the supply side this week as we saw 52 confirmed attached sales to 135 new attached listings for a saturation rating of 39%.

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Downtown Attached Market Update January 31st – February 7th :

Attached listing supply downtown slowed down slightly this past week after posting steady gains through the two previous listing periods; we saw 116 new attached listings downtown this week (down from 128 new attached listings in the previous period), which accounted for 53% of the total 220 new attached listings across Vancouver West (also down slightly from the 227 new attached listings we saw overall last week).  Coal Harbour and False Creek North remained relatively active when compared to listing volumes we saw near the end of quarter 4 2010 as we saw 16 new attached listings in Coal Harbour this week, and 12 new attached listings in False Creek North.  The dense downtown core areas (including Gastown, downtown proper, and Yaletown) conitnued to be the most prevalent listing neighbourhoods with 63 new attached listings this week (down from 73 new attached listings in the previous week), which accounted for 54% of all downtown attached listing supply.  There remains a lack of options for entry level buyers downtown as entry level one and two bedroom properties remain in demand, especially in downtown core neighbourhoods like Yaletown.

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Downtown Attached Market Update January 24th – January 31st :

Confirmed attached sales volume downtown continued to trend upwards this week as we saw 53 confirmed attached sales (up from 42 confirmed attached sales in the previous period), which accounted for 63% of the 84 confirmed attached sales across Vancouver West.  Coal Harbour rebounded this week after posting sub-par sales figures previously with 9 confirmed attached sales (up from just 2 confirmed attached sales in the previous period).  The dense downtown core neighbourhoods (including Yaletown, Gastown, and downtown proper) continued to lead the way with 21 confirmed attached sales.  We expect sales conditions to continue to post positive gains as buyers and agents proceed to absorb the heightened supply conditions we’ve been experiencing since the first week of January.  Due to transaction time it often takes the market a bit of ‘lag time’ prior to seeing the sales figures move into relative equilibrium with increased supply volumes.  Thus, our sales to listing ratio remained aggregately tiled towards buyers, though there remains a lack of supply in regards to certain price points and square footage types with 53 confirmed attached sales to 128 new attached listings for a saturation rating of approximately 41% in the downtown neighbourhoods.

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The number of properties listed for sale and those sold on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) last month outpaced the 10-year average in both categories for January.

“There was a healthy balance between the number of home buyers and sellers in our market in January, but there’s always variation in activity from region to region,” said Jake Moldowan, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV). “We’re seeing strong sellers’ market conditions in areas like Richmond and the west side of Vancouver.”

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 4,801 in January 2011. This represents a 6.7 per cent decrease compared to January 2010 when 5,147 properties were listed, and a 182 per cent increase compared to December 2010 when 1,699 homes were added to the MLS® in Greater Vancouver.

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Downtown Attached Market Update January 17th – January 24th :

Downtown attached listing supply continued to trend upwards for the third consecutive week following a drop-off during the holiday period; we saw 128 new attached listings downtown this week (up from 95 new attached listings in the previous period), which accounted for 57% of the 226 new attached listings over all of Vancouver West. Coal Harbour continued to be relatively busy as we saw 24 new attached listings in the neighbourhood this week, well False Creek North also remains quite an active listing area with 25 new attached listings.  The large and high-density downtown core neighbourhoods (including Yaletown, Gastown, and downtown proper) were once again the most active on the supply side with 54 new attached listings this week, which accounted for 42% of overall downtown attached supply.

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