Greater Vancouver at lower end of balanced
housing market
With a sales-to-active
property listings ratio of 15 per cent, the Greater Vancouver housing
market continues to hover at the lower end of a balanced market and has
been trending in that direction over the past five months.
The Real Estate Board
of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales of
detached, attached and apartment properties on the region’s Multiple
Listing Service® (MLS®) system reached 2,317 in October, a 1 per cent
decrease compared to the 2,337 sales in October 2010 and a 3.2 per cent
increase compared to the previous month. Those sales rank as the second
lowest total for October over the last 10 years.
“Right now, prospective
home buyers have a good selection of properties to choose from and more
time to make decisions,” Rosario Setticasi, REBGV president said. “Home
sellers should be mindful of local market conditions to ensure they are pricing
their properties competitively.”
New listings for
detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled
4,374 in October, which is on par with the 10-year average. This represents
an 18.3 per cent increase compared to October 2010, when 3,698 properties
were listed for sale on the MLS®, and a 23 per cent decrease compared to
the 5,680 new listings reported in September 2011.
The total number of
properties listed for sale on the Greater Vancouver MLS® system currently
sits at 15,377, which is 9.3 per cent higher than the 14,075 properties
listed for sale during the same period last year. October was the first
month that the total number of property listings showed a decrease this
year.
The MLSLink® Housing
Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater
Vancouver over the last 12 months has increased 7.5 per cent to $622,955 in
October 2011 from $579,349 in October 2010. However, since reaching a peak
in June of $630,921, the benchmark price for all residential properties in
the region has declined 1.3 per cent.
Sales of detached
properties in October reached 974, which represents virtually no change
from the 976 detached sales recorded in October 2010, and a 34.5 per cent
decrease from the 1,487 units sold in October 2009. The benchmark price for
detached properties increased 11 per cent from October 2010 to $884,778,
but decreased 1.3 per cent compared to the previous month.
Sales of apartment
properties reached 958 in October, a 2.6 per cent decrease compared to the
984 sales in October 2010, and a decrease of 40.4 per cent compared to the
1,607 sales in October 2009. The benchmark price of an apartment property
increased 3.2 per cent from October 2010 to $402,702, but decreased 0.7 per
cent compared to the previous month.
Attached property sales
in October totalled 382, a 1.3 per cent increase compared to the 377 sales
in October 2010, and a 37.4 per cent decrease from the 610 attached
properties sold in October 2009. The benchmark price of an attached unit
increased 6.5 per cent between October 2010 and 2011 to $519,455, and
increased half a per cent compared to the previous month.
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