Vancouver Realty Online

If you’ve been following our weekly stats over the last month, none of the conclusions here should come as much of a surprise to you. Decreased overall supply, combined with competitive financing driven demand increases have led to a much tighter market across Greater Vancouver. The downtown markets have seen a notable increase in sales volume, and listing inventory has also began to increase. Attached property on the Westside also continued to improve with detached property to follow in the next 2-3 months.

VANCOUVER, B.C. – May 4, 2009 – With more buyers and fewer homes for sale in recent months, the Greater Vancouver housing market has entered a more moderate and balanced state.

For the sixth consecutive month, new listings for detached, attached and apartment properties declined in Greater Vancouver, down 33.7 per cent to 4,649 in April 2009 compared to April 2008, when 7,010 new units were listed. The total number of property listings on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), while slightly down compared to last month, remains unchanged compared to the same period in 2008.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 2,963 in April 2009, a decline of eight per cent from the 3,218 sales recorded in April 2008, and an increase of 31 per cent compared to last month.

“We’re seeing greater balance in the housing market, as evidenced by a strong sales to active listings ratio of over 19 per cent,” Scott Russell, REBGV president said. “The result is a relatively stable market in which homes are being realistically priced.

“The bridge between buyer demand and housing supply is continuing to narrow, which, as we see, helps bring stability to home prices,” he said. “The trends in our housing market over the last couple of months offer a much more comfortable, historically normal set of conditions.”

Sales of detached properties declined eight per cent to 1,190 from the 1,293 detached sales recorded during the same period in 2008. The benchmark price, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, for detached properties declined 12.2 per cent from April 2008 to $675,268.

Sales of apartment properties in April 2009 declined 10.5 per cent to 1,179, compared to 1,317 sales in April 2008. The benchmark price of an apartment property declined 12.6 per cent from April 2008 to $340,203.

Attached property sales in April 2009 are down 2.3 per cent to 594, compared with the 608 sales in April 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit decreased 9.7 per cent between April 2008 and 2009 to $431,759.

Bright spots in Greater Vancouver in April 2009 compared to April 2008:

Detached:

Vancouver West                                 up 59.5 per cent (193 units sold from 121)

Attached:

Port Coquitlam                                    up 69.6 per cent (39 units sold from 23)

Richmond                                           up 17.9 per cent (132 units sold from 112)

Vancouver West                                 up 46.3 per cent (98 units sold from 67)

Apartments:

North Vancouver                                up 29.2 per cent (84 units sold from 65)

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver have released their statistical analysis for the March 2009 market activity.  If you’ve been following our weekly sales updates none of this should come as a surprise, as a decrease in supply, favorable mortgage conditions, and slight price decreases have led to a greater degree of market stability in the form of heightened demand.  The downtown core markets (Yaletown, Coal Harbour, West End, False Creek North, Downtown Core) have all seen a rise in sales activity, and a shift towards market equilibrium with a slight drop in new listing activity.  The Westside attached market has similarly experience a resurgence in sales volume.  The detached housing market on the Westside has seen the greatest degree of correction as new listing activity has fallen drastically, and sales increased as most available product has begun to move since the beginning of February.  Kitsilano specifically has seen a notable decrease in new inventory, and along with stronger sales activity has made the neighourhood quite competitive in regards to detached homes.

VANCOUVER, B.C. – April 2, 2009 – The Metro Vancouver housing market experienced a movement away from volatility and toward stability to start the spring season.

Home sales in March 2009 returned to levels witnessed at the beginning of the decade, with 2,265 sales recorded across Metro Vancouver for the month, a 53 per cent increase over February but a 24.4 per cent decrease over March 2008, when 2,997 sales were recorded.

Since 1999, March sales have increased 31 per cent, on average, over the month of February. March 2009 marks the second consecutive month that sales have outperformed the ten-year average for this month-over-month comparison.

“There’s more confidence in the housing market today than we were seeing late last year. Sales activity is rising to more typical levels given the season, and the number of homes being listed for sale is levelling off,” said Scott Russell, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

New residential listings on the MLS® declined 22 per cent in March 2009 to 4,385 compared to March 2008. This is the fifth month in a row that new listings have decreased year-over-year and the third consecutive month where those declines exceeded 20 per cent.

Despite these trends, total active listings at the end of March 2009 had still reached14,579, a 19 per cent increase compared to the end of March 2008.

“REALTORS® are seeing an increasing level of interest from first-time buyers who are attracted to low interest rates, good supply of housing, greater affordability, and a considerably lower overall cost of servicing a mortgage compared to recent years,” Russell said.

Sales of detached properties in March 2009 declined 19.6 per cent to 897 from the 1,116 units sold during the same period in 2008. The benchmark price, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, for detached properties declined 15.1 per cent from March 2008 to $649,342.

Sales of apartment properties declined 28.8 per cent last month to 976, compared to the 1,370 sales in March 2008. The benchmark price of an apartment property declined 13.5 per cent from March 2008 to $337,099.

Attached property sales in March 2009 decreased 23.3 per cent to 392, compared with the 511 sales during the same month in 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit declined 11.2 per cent between March 2008 and 2009 to $420,563.

If you have any questions on specific statistics in your neighbourhood, or would like to speak with one of our experience sales representatives please do not hesitate to contact us via phone or e-mail!