Vancouver Real Estate: Market Showing Signs of 'Normal' Activity
Posted by Kerri Demski - PREC on
The 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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In 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.
First-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.
Vancouver is in the midst of a strong spring in real estate as home buyers continue to enter the housing market at near record levels. There have been 4,080 sales in March, 2011 which represents a 31.7% increase compared to February, 2011 and an increase of 30.1% compared to March, 2010. The all-time sales record for March was in 2004 when 4,371 real estate transactions occurred.
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In Vancouver, looking at detached properties over the
3 million dollar mark, the community with the highest level of activity is Shaughnessy. In
February there were 18 homes sold between $3,045,000 and $7,850,000. The total
amount of real estate sold was just under 77 million; the average price being $4,277,000.
Three of these homes sold in multiple offer…