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vancouverrealestate_400This past month the sales to active listings ratio in Greater Vancouver shifted slightly to 15% which places us from the higher end of a buyers’ market into the lower end of a balanced market. This is because home sales remain steady while listing inventory takes a break for the first time this year. There were 4,374 new listings in October which is in line with the 10 year average for new listings. Currenlty, there are 15,377 properties listed for sale in Greater Vancouver, 4% lower than last month.

While the number of sales increased slightly last month, detached prices decreased by 1.6% in October and condos decreased by 3%. Attached properties increased marginally by .5% compared to the previous month. Price stability combined with a healthy…

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Month over month, the consistent rise in our listing count has been outpaced by home sales, keeping a lid on home prices. However, this has pushed the Greater Vancouver housing market into the upper end of a buyers’ market. The number of properties listed for sale on the MLS® rose to 16,085 in September 2011. This represents a 4.6% increase over last month and a 4.4% increase compared to September 2010.

What does this mean for you? Honestly, it really depends on where you live but generally speaking, sellers and their REALTORS® have to work harder for an offer. Home staging is becoming popular for sellers to get top dollar and potentially drive multiple offers. They also need to be more accurate in their pricing because they actually have…

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Sales and new listings were down for August however, recent market activity indicates that we're not done yet! We had a great spell of extraordinary weather which had Vancouverites out and about, trying to enjoy the remainder of what turned out to be a very short summer. Now that fall routines have set in and everyone is back at work and school, the race is on. Buyers and sellers alike are making a last push before the rain (really) begins and the holidays start knocking.

For example in North Vancouver, new listings are coming on at a steady pace and we're seeing some sellers reduce their pricing in an effort to revive older listings. Buyers are taking advantage of the increased inventory and properly priced, move-in ready homes are selling quickly.…

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whiterock_400Sales and new listings are down for July, but they should be compared to June. On the west coast, summer has finally arrived and buyers and sellers alike are headed out to enjoy it! Contrary to some reports, the real estate sky in Vancouver it not falling. No one seems to consider an important factor which happens to also be the most difficult to predict, supply and demand.

Home sellers continued to outpace buyers in July which has helped further shift the Greater Vancouver market toward balanced conditions. At 16.9%, the July sales-to-active listings ratio indicates a healthy balance between housing supply and demand.

Generally analysts say that a market enters balanced conditions when the ratio reaches the 15-20% range. Seller's market conditions…

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halfmoon_400Vancouver and the Fraser Valley are expected to trend toward a 'sellers to balanced' market over the next 18 months while the rest of the province will experience a 'buyers to balanced' market. Vancouver home prices are still on the rise despite a slowdown in the first time buyer market. Single family home sales remain the strong, keeping supply in check.

Already, there are a handful of Vancouver real estate market predictions for 2012. The BC Real estate Association anticipates the provincial average price to increase by a total of 13% for 2011 and a decrease by 2.5% in 2012. Considering the continued demand and limited supply in our beautiful city, things continue to look optimistic. We will explore TD and RBC's housing forecasts in our next post. We…

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whistler_four_seasons_305Well it’s that time of year again, and RE/MAX has released their Recreational Property Report 2011. Studying 46 markets across Canada has shown that recovering stock portfolios and large equity gains in major centres have stirred up real estate markets from coast to coast. Larger selections, greater affordability and pent up demand are creating a strong recreation property market this year, well ahead of the national average. Buyers who held off during the recession are now back in action and have been rewarded with better values and choices.

In Whistler, sales in the first quarter of 2011, are up 58%. While single family homes sales are softening, condo sales are strong and townhouses are on a serious upswing. Demand is at its highest for affordable…

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indian-river-homeThe housing market is still very active but has certainly eased away from near record-setting paces. With a sales to listing ratio of 23%, our seller’s market persits as inventory remains low with a slight increase in sales, but fairly typical for May.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 5,931 in May 2011. This represents a 15.4 per cent decrease compared to May 2010 when 7,014 properties were listed for sale on the MLS®. New listings for May 2011, increased marginally by 1.4% compared to April 2011.

Residential property sales of detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver reached 3,377 in May 2011, a 7% increase compared to the 3,156 sales in May 2010 and a 4.7 per cent…

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The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has revised its forecast for home sales activity (2011 & 2012) due to the unexpected Q1 surge of activity in Greater Vancouver. National sales activity is now expected to reach 441,100 units in 2011, a decline of 1.3 per cent from 2010. This is a slight improvement from the 1.6 per cent decline forecast by CREA in February.

“The extent to which high priced sales activity in Vancouver will pitch up the average price locally, for British Columbia and nationally will likely diminish in the next couple of months in line with a seasonal increase in national activity,” Klump added. “That said, foreign investment in Vancouver residential real estate is showing no signs of slowing, so it seems likely to remain a…

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sunshine_coast_330In contrast to the near record pace witnessed at the beginning of this year, the Vancouver real estate market seems to be normalizing. With increased inflation and rising interest rates, sales are slowing particularitly in the entry level condo market; however prices are still on the rise and the market continues to be very active.

Along with a decline in the number of new listings, the frenzy of last month’s activity brought a greater balance to supply and demand. The Greater Vancouver area saw a 23.5% drop in new listings compared to last April, and a 14% decline compared to last month. The year over year drop can be attributed to a less active condo market as there were slightly more detached and townhouse sales this April compared to last.

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Condo in Lower Lonsdale, North Vancouver, BCFirst-time buyers contribute to strong upward momentum in residential housing markets across the country. This demographic typically accounts for 40-60% of the homes purchased in any given real estate market. However, recent changes to financing criteria that came into effect in March, didn’t really create the anticipated frenzy in activity. Most rookie home buyers remain practical and are buying within their means – the message is getting across while having a negligible effect on demand.

During the first two months of this year, there were 5000 homes sold in Vancouver, and over 45% of those homes were condos priced under $500,000, clearly indicating continued strength in the first-time home buyer market and this trend hasn’t declined in the midst of…

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