Local homes sales are in a balanced state despite the lowest April sales numbers since 2001, according to a report by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
“Although April sales were below what’s typical for the month, we continue to see, with a sales-to-active listing ratio of nearly 17 per cent, a balanced relationship between buyer demand and seller supply in our marketplace,” Eugen Klein, REBGV president said in a statement.
“Recent activity has had a stabilizing effect on home prices at the regional level, although pricing can vary depending on area and property type.”
According to the monthly report, homes sales and listings have maintained a consistent pace in recent months, contributing to the balanced conditions.
However, the report noted that Metro Vancouver sales totalled 2,799 in April 2012, a 13.2-per-cent decline compared to the 3,225 sales in April 2011 and a decline of 2.6 per cent compared to the 2,874 sales in March 2012.
April sales were the lowest total for the month in the region since 2001 and 16.9 per cent below the 10-year April sales average of 3,369, the board said in a release.
Greater Vancouver housing market maintains a steady spring pace
VANCOUVER, B.C. – May 2, 2012 – Home sale and listing activity has maintained a consistent pace on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Greater Vancouver in recent months, which has helped create balanced conditions for the region’s housing market.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 2,799 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in April 2012. This represents a 13.2 per cent decline compared to the 3,225 sales recorded in April 2011 and a decline of 2.6 per cent compared to the 2,874 sales in March 2012. April sales were the lowest total for the month in the region since 2001 and 16.9 per cent below the 10-year April sales average of 3,369.
“Although April sales were below what’s typical for the month, we continue to see, with a sales-to-active listing ratio of nearly 17 per cent, a balanced relationship between buyer demand and seller supply in our marketplace,” Eugen Klein, REBGV president said.
New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 6,056 in April 2012. This represents a 3.6 per cent increase compared to both March 2012 when 5,843 homes were listed and April 2011 when 5,847 homes were listed for sale on the region’s MLS®.
Last month’s new listing total was 6.7 per cent above the 10-year average for listings in Greater Vancouver for April. At 16,538, the total number of homes listed for sale on the region’s MLS® increased 8.5 per cent in April compared to last month and increased 16 per cent from this time last year.
“Recent activity has had a stabilizing effect on home prices at the regional level, although pricing can vary depending on area and property type,” Klein said “To best understand conditions within your area of interest, it’s important to do your homework and consult a local REALTOR®.”
The MLS® HPI benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver currently sits at $683,800, up 3.7 per cent compared to April 2011 and an increase of 2.8 per cent over the last three months. The benchmark price for all residential properties in the Lower Mainland is $612,000, which is a 3.4 per cent increase compared to April 2011 and a 2.6 per cent increase compared to three months ago.
Sales of detached properties on the MLS® in April 2012 reached 1,126, a decline of 19.7 per cent from the 1,402 detached sales recorded in April 2011, and a 17.8 per cent decrease from the 1,370 units sold in April 2010. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 6.3 per cent from April 2011 to $1,064,800.
Sales of apartment properties reached 1,190 in April 2012, a decline of 0.9 per cent compared to the 1,201 sales in April 2011, and a decrease of 22 per cent compared to the 1,526 sales in April 2010.The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 1.1 per cent from April 2011 to $375,900.Townhome property sales in April 2012 totalled 483, a decline of 22.3 per cent compared to the 622 sales in April 2011, and a 21.6 per cent decrease from the 616 townhome properties sold in April 2010. The benchmark price of a townhome unit increased 1.7 per cent between April 2011 and 2012 to $487,300.
Vancouver home prices fall for fifth consecutive month
OTTAWA — Homes prices edged down 0.2 per cent in February from the month before but were still 6.1 per cent higher than a year ago, according to a well-watched housing index.
The month-over-month decline was the third such retreat in the past four months for the Teranet-National Bank National Composite House Price Index, released Wednesday, which measures price changes for repeat sales of single-family homes.
In January, prices rose 0.1 per cent.
Teranet's report showed prices falling from the previous month in six of the 11 metropolitan markets surveyed.
In Canada's two hottest real-estate markets, prices in Vancouver fell 0.3 per cent, the fifth consecutive decline, while prices in Toronto rose by just 0.1 per cent. On a yearly basis, however, Toronto prices were 10 per cent higher.
Nationally, prices were 6.1 per cent higher than a year ago. In January, prices were 6.5 per cent higher.
The data is likely to show up on the radar of Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, who has repeatedly warned that Canadians are piling on too much debt as they buy homes whose prices keep rising.
At a House of Commons finance committee meeting Tuesday, Carney warned that house prices in relation to income levels are now running 35 per cent above historical norms.
Last week, the Canadian Real Estate Association reported that seasonally adjusted sales in March rose 1.6 per cent from year-earlier levels, although the national average home price declined 0.5 per cent to to $369,677.
"It is a fact that according to CREA (the Canadian Real Estate Association) data for March, five of the 11 markets covered were rather favourable to sellers (Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Halifax and Quebec City). Overall, the Canadian market is nevertheless balanced," said National Bank senior economist Marc Pinsonneault.
Metropolitan area % change m/m / % change y/y
Calgary / -0.6 % / +1.3 %
Edmonton / -1.0 % / +1.1 %
Halifax / +0.4 % / +2.3 %
Hamilton / -0.8 % / +7.5 %
Montreal / +0.2 % / +4.4 %
Ottawa / -0.4 % / +4.6 %
Quebec / +1.6 % / +5.6 %
Toronto / 0.1 % / +10.0 %
Vancouver / -0.3 % / +6.2 %
Victoria / -1.1 % / -1.7 %
Winnipeg / +0.2 % / +8.2 %
National Composite / -0.2 % / +6.1 %
Source: Teranet-National Bank National Composite House Price Index
Metro Vancouver housing market remains balanced despite sharp sales drop: report
Local homes sales are in a balanced state despite the lowest April sales numbers since 2001, according to a report by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
“Although April sales were below what’s typical for the month, we continue to see, with a sales-to-active listing ratio of nearly 17 per cent, a balanced relationship between buyer demand and seller supply in our marketplace,” Eugen Klein, REBGV president said in a statement.
“Recent activity has had a stabilizing effect on home prices at the regional level, although pricing can vary depending on area and property type.”
According to the monthly report, homes sales and listings have maintained a consistent pace in recent months, contributing to the balanced conditions.
However, the report noted that Metro Vancouver sales totalled 2,799 in April 2012, a 13.2-per-cent decline compared to the 3,225 sales in April 2011 and a decline of 2.6 per cent compared to the 2,874 sales in March 2012.
April sales were the lowest total for the month in the region since 2001 and 16.9 per cent below the 10-year April sales average of 3,369, the board said in a release.
New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties totalled 6,056 in April, a 3.6-per-cent increase compared to both March 2012 when 5,843 homes were listed and April 2011 when 5,847 homes were listed for sale.
Last month’s new listing total was 6.7 per cent above the 10-year average for listings in Greater Vancouver for April, the release said.
At 16,538, the total number of homes listed for sale increased 8.5 per cent in April compared to last month and 16 per cent above this time last year.
The benchmark price for all residential properties stood at $683,800, up 3.7 per cent compared to April 2011 and an increase of 2.8 per cent over the last three months.
Sales of detached properties in April 2012 reached 1,126, a decline of 19.7 per cent from the 1,402 detached sales recorded in April 2011, although the benchmark price for detached properties increased 6.3 per cent from April 2011 to $1,064,800.
The highest benchmark price in April for a detached home was Vancouver West at $2.27 million, followed by West Vancouver at $1.98 million.
The benchmark price of an apartment increased 1.1 per cent from April 2011 to $375,900, while the price of a townhome increased 1.7 per cent between April 2011 and 2012 to $487,300.
Meanwhile, the Fraser Valley's housing market also showed a drop in sales year-over-year, although not as sharp as in Metro Vancouver.
According to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, there were 1,435 sales processed in April, down five per cent from April 2011, but up slightly from 1,412 sales in March.
In April, the board added seven per cent more new listings compared to one year ago, up to 3,134 from 2,918 last year. That pushed the number of properties for sale to 10,312, the highest level since July 2010.
“To put it in perspective, in the last decade, April 2012 ranked second lowest for sales during that month, while new listings came in at the third highest, meaning it’s a good time to be shopping for a home in the Fraser Valley because selection has only been this extensive twice,” said board president Scott Olson in a statement.
According to the report, the benchmark price for a detached home in the Fraser Valley rose 5.3 per cent in the year, from $547,800 in April 2011 to $576,600 last month.
In April, the price of a townhouse was $318,400, up 1.9 per cent year-over-year, while the price of an apartment increased 0.8 per cent over the same period to $205,800.
Three new towers proposed for Rogers Arena vicinity - Vancouver New Development
Public consultations beginning this month on the development of towers around the Rogers Arena mean Vancouver's skyline could change in an area that has seen plenty of controversy.
Aquilini Development's proposal to build three new residential and commercial towers may upset some residents, but community activist Sandy Garossino supports the idea.
She believes the project could convince the B.C. Pavillion Corporation to abandon reviving the idea of building a mega-casino in favour of condo and office tower development in Yaletown.
"We're still concerned the casino idea is going to come back," Garassino said. "There is just such a strong feeling that this is a community; this is a residential neighrbourhood." Public consultation on the three towers will begin on Feb. 20.
While the proposed changes to the skyline and the density of the neighbourhood make the project noteworthy, it's also the first to consider what would happen if city council approves demolishing one of the two viaducts in Vancouver.
Vancouver city councillor Geoff Meggs has long championed the contentious idea of removing the viaducts in favour of more public and residential development.
He says the long-term possibility of a fourth tower where the Dunsmuir Viaduct now runs fits with the city's vision for the area.
General price declines in B.C. make province 'nation's new weak spot,' according to report
Canada's housing market is not a bubble, it's a balloon. And unlike the catastrophic decline the U.S. housing market experienced in 2008, the market in Canada will deflate slowly rather than pop, according to a report by BMO Capital Markets.
The sole possible exception is Vancouver, where the number of unoccupied condominiums is high due to building the Olympic Village, economists Sherry Cooper and Sal Guatieri wrote in "Will Canada's Housing Boom Forge On, Fizzle Out, or Flame Out?"
But generally, the report says that despite rising household debt, low interest rates and rising home prices, it is unlikely that a sudden correction will take place.
"The main take-away is that the national housing market appears some-what pricey, but is far removed from bubble territory," the report stated.
It compares average resale prices with median family incomes and finds the ratio is 4.9 nationally, compared to 3.2 a decade ago.
In Vancouver, though, where house prices have gone up 159 per cent in the last 10 years - compared to 104 per cent nationally - the ratio of price to income is 10, nearly double what it was a decade ago, the report said. Victoria is also high, at 5.7, but not as high as Toronto, which has a price to income ratio of 6.7.
Montreal has also seen prices rise dramatically - by 153 per cent - and its price-to-income ratio double, but that ratio remains low at 4.5.
Despite rising home prices in most of Canada's major cities, the growth doesn't seem to be excessive, the report said. But elevated valuations could lead to trouble in the event of a shock.
For example, if interest rates were to spike by about four percentage points, the affordability of homes would quickly drop throughout the country. A severe recession would also affect affordability.
But the chance of either of those events happening is unlikely, the report authors stated. Also, except for a few markets, the national housing boom has already cooled.
And British Columbia is now "the nation's new weak spot, with prices generally declining," the report said.
Some of that decline reflects fewer sales of high-end homes.
"[But] some real underlying softness is at play, and will likely continue until valuations improve," the report stated.
Tsur Somerville, director for the Centre for Urban Economics and Real Estate at the Sauder School of Business at UBC, said BMO's report is one of many predicting slight drops or slight increases in the housing market rather than a major correction.
"The kinds of things you need to get major corrections, like oversupply or radical change in the financing environment, just aren't there," Somerville said.
And just because the overall market will be flat, it doesn't mean that certain portions of it - such as areas that have had higher run-ups in prices over the past few years - aren't in for a correction, he said.
Helmut Pastrick, chief economist with Central 1 Credit Union, believes that while there may be a soft landing at some point in the future, it won't be in 2012.
"The market is holding up generally well and it looks like 2012 is going to be fairly similar to 2011 in terms of overall unit sales," Pastrick said. "Housing prices will go up by some amount, sales will also increase by a small amount."
And while the economy isn't booming, it is growing, interest rates are low and there is job growth, he said.
"So the conditions to me aren't ripe for a correction."
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that Canada's banking regulator fears that Canadian lenders are loosening standards on mortgages that are similar to U.S. subprime loans, posing an "emerging risk" to financial institutions.
Banks and other lenders are becoming "increasingly liberal" with mort-gages and home-equity credit lines that don't require individuals to prove their...
Balanced real estate market prevailed through much of 2011
REBGV Stats December 2011
The 2011 Greater Vancouver housing market began with heightened demand in regional hot spots and concluded with greater balance between seller supply and buyer demand.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that total sales of detached, attached and apartment properties in 2011 reached 32,390, a 5.9 per cent increase from the 30,595 sales recorded in 2010, and a 9.2 per cent decrease from the 35,669 residential sales in 2009. Last year’s home sale total was 6.3 per cent below the ten-year average for annual Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) sales in the region.
The number of residential properties listed for sale on the MLS® in Greater Vancouver increased 2.7 per cent in 2011 to 59,549 compared to the 58,009 properties listed in 2010. Looking back further, last year’s total represents a 12.8 per cent increase compared to the 52,869 residential properties listed in 2009. Last year’s listing total was 11.1 per cent above the ten-year average for annual Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) property listings in the region.
“It was a relatively balanced year for the real estate market in Greater Vancouver with listing totals slightly above historical norms and sale numbers slightly below,” Rosario Setticasi, REBGV president said.
Residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 1,658 in December 2011, a decrease of 12.7 per cent from the 1,899 sales recorded in December 2010 and a 29.7 per cent decline compared to November 2011 when 2,360 home sales occurred.
More broadly, last month’s residential sales represent a 34.1 per cent decrease over the 2,515 residential sales in December 2009, a 79.4 per cent increase compared to December 2008’s 924 sales, and a 12.6 per cent decrease compared to the 1,897 sales in December 2007.
The overall residential benchmark price, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, for Greater Vancouver increased 7.6 per cent to $621,674 between Decembers 2010 and 2011. However, prices have decreased 1.5 per cent since hitting a peak of $630,921 in June 2011.
“Our market remained in a balanced state for most of the year, although higher levels of demand for detached properties in the region’s largest communities caused prices in certain areas to rise higher than others,” Setticasi said. “For example, the benchmark price of a single-family detached home experienced double-digit increases in nine areas within the region over the last 12 months.”
New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 1,629 in December 2011. This represents a 4.1 per cent decline compared to the 1,699 units listed in December 2010 and a 49.4 per cent decline compared to November 2011 when 3,222 properties were listed.
Sales of detached properties in December 2011 reached 630, a decrease of 18.1 per cent from the 769 detached sales recorded in December 2010, and a 30.2 per cent decrease from the 902 units sold in December 2009. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 11.2 per cent from December 2010 to $887,471.
Sales of apartment properties reached 774 in December 2011, a decline of 4.6 per cent compared to the 811 sales in December 2010, and a decrease of 32.9 per cent compared to the 1,154 sales in December 2009.The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 3.7 per cent from December 2010 to $401,396.
Attached property sales in December 2011 totalled 254, a decline of 20.4 per cent compared to the 319 sales in December 2010, and a 44.7 per cent decrease from the 459 attached properties sold in December 2009. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 4.2 per cent between December 2010 and 2011 to $511,499.
B.C. Assessment released its data on the value of homes in the province on Tuesday. While some regions saw values skyrocket, others dropped. Take a look to see how your property's value (and your taxes) will jump this year.
List ranked in order from largest hike to biggest drop in values:
1. Vancouver - Up 16.42%
2. Richmond-Delta - Up 12.83%
3. North Fraser (Burnaby, Coquitlam, etc.) - Up 8.45%
4. Surrey-White Rock - Up 7.83%
5. Peace River - Up 7.44%
6. North Shore-Squamish Valley - Up 6.48%
7. Northwest B.C. (Prince Rupert, Terrace, Kitimat) - Up 4.74%
8. Prince George - Up 2.36%
9. Fraser Valley - Up 1.67%
10. Nelson/Trail - Up 1.08%
11. Cariboo - Up 0.32%
12. Central Vancouver Island (Nanaimo) - Down 0.06%
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