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Property information
Metro Vancouver recorded its best year-over-year sales increase in May since February 2008 with 3,524 sales reported through the Multiple Listing Service, 17 per cent higher than the 3,002 sales recorded in the same month a year ago. (Vancouver Sun June 3)
For the second month in a row, the Canadian housing market has recorded an increasing number of sales in most areas around the country.
“Conditions in the resale housing market have improved markedly this Spring,” according to TREB President Maureen O’Neill. “Home purchases have increased as households have taken advantage of low interest rates and slightly lower home prices.”
While April sales remained lower than last year, the housing market gained momentum on a month-over-month basis.
Paul Penner, President of the Fraser Valley real estate board, says current conditions have created one of the best buying opportunities in years. “REALTORS® have successfully communicated to their sellers to be more realistic with their prices, which is why we’ve seen a 29% increase in sales from March to April.”
Penner also attributes the increase to all-time historically low interest rates and still relatively high inventory for Fraser Valley, although it is dropping rapidly.
Below is a brief summary of sales activities in some areas across the country:
British Columbia Surrey, May 4, 2009: The Fraser Valley real estate market continued to show signs of rebalancing in April with the number of sales increasing for the third month in a row while the volume of available properties stayed constant. Benchmark prices for detached homes and condominiums also showed increases over the last three months.
In April, there were 1,293 sales processed on the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), reflecting a 28% decrease compared to the 1,787 sales in April of last year, however, a 29% increase over March sales. At the same time, the Board received 44% fewer new listings compared to one year ago, 2,477 in contrast to 4,458 in April 2008, helping to stabilize the number of active listings in the Fraser Valley at 9,855.
The Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price of Fraser Valley townhouses decreased 11.6% from $333,982 in April 2008 to $295,078 in April 2009. That decrease, however, slowed to 0.1% during the last three months. The benchmark price of apartments also decreased year-over-year by 11.4% going from $260,037 in April of last year to $230,337 in April 2009. Similar to detached homes, the benchmark price for apartments has increased by 4.4% over the last three months.
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Once more the Bank of Canada has dramatically lowered consumer interest rates! An April 21, 2009 article expresses intention to hold rates until 2010. Read here. Courtesy of the Bank of Canada.
Which statement is correct? Wth so much media attention it's hard to filter out the truth. Here are some statistics to ponder:
Today, on the Metro Vancouver & Fraser Valley Multiple Listing Service, there were 333 new Residential Listings posted. Also, today, there were 240 sales posted. That equates to a 72% sales to listing ratio. A 'normal' market is when 60% of all listed properties sell during the listing period. Yes it's not a perfect way to calculate the likelihood of any particular home selling for how much and when. However, since January of this year we have, somewhat nervously, been watching the daily stats that are displayed 'real time' on our MLXChange program. What it has been showing us is a steady crawl from a 17% sales to listing ratio at the beginning of the year to a ratio hovering around 34% in February on up through the 50-60% range and now to the current ratio mentioned above.
The 'nervousness' we experienced was not that of two Realtors 'hungry' for a sale but that of two Realtors facing a serious challenge when asked for our 'opinion' on where we thought the market was going. We wanted to give 'credible' advice to our clients and prospective clients and, more than once we took the safe road, agreeing that 'waiting' might be the right thing to do - for a while.
Now, whether you are a buyer or a seller and you ask us what we think we will point to the Facts. 72% sales to listing ratio seems like an indication that moving from one home to another is, again, a whole lot easier. Just last weekend a townhome in East Vancouver sold for $26,000 above asking price because of multiple offers. Go figure!
Are you asking me what 'I' would do? I would probably slap on some sunscreen and go for a sail. Or, maybe I would call my mortgage broker to check out the lowest interest rates in six decades! Think maybe that has something to do with the pickup in sales?
By the way, we're talking about the Urban market here. The suburbs traditionally react a bit later, but in some cases the reaction is already evident.
It will be fun watching how things develop over the next few months.
Happy sailing!
Ps. to those of you who are considering selling your home...pricing it right is still critical as the inventory of competing homes has not quite dried up yet.
Where Are You From?
It's a question often asked when people meet someone in Vancouver, for the first time. Why? Well, not only are Vancouverites curious people but, also, because 52% of Vancouver residents were born in another country. In Metro Vancouver the number is 43%. The impact of this phenomenon continues to challenge the way we live, the way we work and the way we play. All in all, Vancouverites have risen to the challenge by learning about our neighbours' unique cultures. We have been encouraged, and even forced, to become more aware of the beliefs and traditions of our new & old immigrant partners. And in order to understand and embrace the evolving state of our metropolitan mosaic it often means looking to our own past to see what our forefathers' challenges and aspirations were. Why did they choose Canada as a new place to call home? And why did they settle in this greatest of all Canadian Cities & surrounding municipalities? Metro Vancouverites have learned that all change requires a recognition of the fact that 'things will never be the same' again. It's from that starting point that we get to enjoy the sometimes confusing but often inspiring contributions that fresh citizens of the world bring to our home. Welcome to B.C.
Property sales strengthen in current market cycle
VANCOUVER, B.C. – April 2, 2009 – The Metro Vancouver housing market experienced a movement away from volatility and toward stability to start the spring season.
Home sales in March 2009 returned to levels witnessed at the beginning of the decade, with 2,265 sales recorded across Metro Vancouver for the month, a 53 per cent increase over February but a 24.4 per cent decrease over March 2008, when 2,997 sales were recorded.
Since 1999, March sales have increased 31 per cent, on average, over the month of February. March 2009 marks the second consecutive month that sales have outperformed the ten-year average for this month-over-month comparison.
“There’s more confidence in the housing market today than we were seeing late last year. Sales activity is rising to more typical levels given the season, and the number of homes being listed for sale is levelling off,” said Scott Russell, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).
New residential listings on the MLS® declined 22 per cent in March 2009 to 4,385 compared to March 2008. This is the fifth month in a row that new listings have decreased year-over-year and the third consecutive month where those declines exceeded 20 per cent.
Despite these trends, total active listings at the end of March 2009 had still reached14,579, a 19 per cent increase compared to the end of March 2008.
“REALTORS® are seeing an increasing level of interest from first-time buyers who are attracted to low interest rates, good supply of housing, greater affordability, and a considerably lower overall cost of servicing a mortgage compared to recent years,” Russell said.
Sales of detached properties in March 2009 declined 19.6 per cent to 897 from the 1,116 units sold during the same period in 2008. The benchmark price, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, for detached properties declined 15.1 per cent from March 2008 to $649,342.
Sales of apartment properties declined 28.8 per cent last month to 976, compared to the 1,370 sales in March 2008. The benchmark price of an apartment property declined 13.5 per cent from March 2008 to $337,099.
Attached property sales in March 2009 decreased 23.3 per cent to 392, compared with the 511 sales during the same month in 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit declined 11.2 per cent between March 2008 and 2009 to $420,563. New Release...Courtesy of Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver
News Release (GVREB)
VANCOUVER, B.C. – March 3, 2008 – Residential housing sales in Greater Vancouver rose 94 per cent in February compared to the month before, with 1,480 sales registered in February compared to 762 sales in January, which was the slowest month for housing sales in 25 years. Over the past 10 years, February sales have typically surpassed January by an average increase of 53 per cent.
At the same time, new MLS® listings for residential properties continued to decrease for the fourth month in a row. New listings decreased 25.6 per cent in February compared to the previous year; 20 per cent in January; 8.6 per cent in December; and 10 per cent in November.
“There are terrific opportunities out there right now, but with property listings continuing to decrease, those opportunities may be available only for a brief window of time,” said Dave Watt, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).
REBGV reports that year-over-year property sales in Greater Vancouver declined 44.7 per cent in February 2009 from the 2,676 sales recorded in February 2008. Year-over-year, those are the lowest sales figures for February since the mid-1980s.
“REALTORS® are reporting more activity compared to recent months as people begin to see whether their position in the housing market has strengthened as a result of falling interest rates and improved affordability,” Watt says. “It took, on average, 67 days to sell a home in Greater Vancouver in February, seven days less than last month, but behind the seller’s market of last February when the average stood at 33 days.
Sales of detached properties in February 2009 declined 41 per cent to 587 from the 995 units sold during the same period in 2008. The benchmark price, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, for detached properties declined 14.2 per cent from February 2008 to $653,452.
Sales of apartment properties declined 45.6 per cent last month to 650, compared to the 1,197 sales in February 2008. The benchmark price of an apartment property declined 13.9 per cent from February 2008 to $333,143.
Attached property sales in February 2009 decreased 49.8 per cent to 243, compared with the 484 sales during the same month in 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit declined 9.7 per cent between Februarys 2008 and 2009 to $426,268.
New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties declined 25.6 per cent to 3,916 in February 2009 compared to February 2008, when 5,260 new units were listed.
Canada, No Bailouts in banking, No Bailouts for businesses, The Greatest Banking System in the world.
NEWSWEEK - Published Feb 2009, by Fareed Zakaria (CNN)
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative-Canadian banks are typically leveraged at 18 to 1-compared with U.S. banks at 26 to 1.
The legendary editor of The New Republic, Michael Kinsley, once held a "Boring Headline Contest" and decided that the winner was "Worthwhile Canadian Initiative." Twenty-two years later, the magazine was rescued from its economic troubles by a Canadian media company, which should have taught us Americans to be a bit more humble. Now there is even more striking evidence of Canada's virtues. Guess which country, alone in the industrialized world, has not faced a single bank failure, calls for bailouts or government intervention in the financial or mortgage sectors. Yup, it's Canada. In 2008, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada's banking system the healthiest in the world. America's ranked 40th, Britain's 44th.
Canada has done more than survive this financial crisis. The country is positively thriving in it. Canadian banks are well capitalized and poised to take advantage of opportunities that American and European banks cannot seize. The Toronto Dominion Bank, for example, was the 15th-largest bank in North America one year ago. Now it is the fifth-largest. It hasn't grown in size; the others have all shrunk.
So what accounts for the genius of the Canadians? Common sense. Over the past 15 years, as the United States and Europe loosened regulations on their financial industries, the Canadians refused to follow suit, seeing the old rules as useful shock absorbers. Canadian banks are typically leveraged at 18 to 1-compared with U.S. banks at 26 to 1 and European banks at a frightening 61 to 1. Partly this reflects Canada's more risk-averse business culture, but it is also a product of old-fashioned rules on banking.
Canada has also been shielded from the worst aspects of this crisis because its housing prices have not fluctuated as wildly as those in the United States. Home prices are down 25 percent in the United States, but only half as much in Canada. Why? Well, the Canadian tax code does not provide the massive incentive for over consumption that the U.S. code does: interest on your mortgage isn't deductible up north. In addition, home loans in the United States are "non-recourse," which basically means that if you go belly up on a bad mortgage, it's mostly the bank's problem. In Canada, it's yours. Ah, but you've heard American politicians wax eloquent on the need for these expensive programs-interest deductibility alone costs the federal government $100 billion a year-because they allow the average Joe to fulfill the American Dream of owning a home. Sixty-eight percent of Americans own their own homes. And the rate of Canadian homeownership? It's 68.4 percent.
Canada has been remarkably responsible over the past decade or so. It has had 12 years of budget surpluses, and can now spend money to fuel a recovery from a strong position. The government has restructured the national pension system, placing it on a firm fiscal footing, unlike our own insolvent Social Security. Its health-care system is cheaper than America's by far (accounting for 9.7 percent of GDP, versus 15.2 percent here), and yet does better on all major indexes. Life expectancy in Canada is 81 years, versus 78 in the United States; "healthy life expectancy" is 72 years, versus 69. American car companies have moved so many jobs to Canada to take advantage of lower health-care costs that since 2004, Ontario and not Michigan has been North America's largest car-producing region.
I could go on. The U.S. currently has a brain-dead immigration system. We issue a small number of work visas and green cards, turning away from our shores thousands of talented students who want to stay and work here. Canada, by contrast, has no limit on the number of skilled migrants who can move to the country. They can apply on their own for a Canadian Skilled Worker Visa, which allows them to become perfectly legal "permanent residents" in Canada-no need for a sponsoring employer, or even a job. Visas are awarded based on education level, work experience, age and language abilities. If a prospective immigrant earns 67 points out of 100 total (holding a Ph.D. is worth 25 points, for instance), he or she can become a full-time, legal resident of Canada.
Companies are noticing. In 2007 Microsoft, frustrated by its inability to hire foreign graduate students in the United States, decided to open a research center in Vancouver. The company's announcement noted that it would staff the center with "highly skilled people affected by immigration issues in the U.S." So the brightest Chinese and Indian software engineers are attracted to the United States, trained by American universities, then thrown out of the country and picked up by Canada-where most of them will work, innovate and pay taxes for the rest of their lives.
If President Obama is looking for smart government, there is much he, and all of us, could learn from our quiet-OK, sometimes boring-neighbor to the north. Meanwhile, in the councils of the financial world, Canada is pushing for new rules for financial institutions that would reflect its approach. This strikes me as, well, a worthwhile Canadian initiative.
British Columbia Real Estate Association looks at the February, 2009
BC Real Estate Market
We have just sold another Singe Family Residence in New Westminster demonstrating that Experienced Marketing does pay off in a slow Real Estate environment!
If you are wondering what the best approach is in selling a home in this turbulent market, we'd be delighted to provide you with hard statistics and discuss your options.
CREA (Canadian Real Estate Association) says they don't expect Real Estate Sales to pick up until next year. (News article & graphic courtesy of The Financial Post)
Yesterday, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tabled the federal budget. Several measures affect Canada's housing and mortgage industry.
· Temporary home renovations tax credit of up to $1,350 for eligible home renovations and alterations
· Increase in the home buyers RSP plan, withdrawal limit increased to $25,000 from the current $20,000
· A new first time home buyers tax credit that will provide up to $750 in tax relief for closing costs
· Broad based personal tax reductions including an increase in the personal exemption and increases to the limits for the two lowest tax brackets
CAAMP President and CEO Jim Murphy, AMP was in Ottawa today as part of the pre-budget lock up. To view a copy of CAAMP's Press Release on the budget announcements - click here
For more information on today's federal budget reading - click here
We have just sold another Singe Family Residence in Vancouver East demonstrating that Experienced Marketing does pay off in a slow Real Estate environment!
If you are wondering what the best approach is in selling a home in this turbulent market, we'd be delighted to provide you with hard statistics and discuss your options.