November 2, 2011
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.
For more information of Vancouver market Statistics or if you have any questions on the above, please feel free to contact me anytime.