Historically normal activity keeps the Greater Vancouver
housing market in a balanced state
VANCOUVER, B.C. – December 2, 2011 – The Greater Vancouver housing market saw relatively typical home sale
and listing activity in November.
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®) reached 2,360 in November. This represents a 5.9 per cent decline compared to the 2,509 sales in November 2010 and a 1.9 per cent increase compared to the
2,317 sales recorded in October 2011.
Looking back further, last month’s residential sales total is 5.8 per cent below the ten-year average for sales in November.
“The pace of home listings entering the market eased slightly in November, compared to recent months, while sale
levels remained fairly normal for this time of year,” Rosario Setticasi, REBGV president said. “November activity
helped put our market firmly in balanced territory.”
New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 3,222 in November.
This represents a 26.3 per cent decline compared to the 4,374 new listings reported in October 2011, but a 6.3 per cent
increase compared to November 2010 when 3,030 properties were listed for sale on the MLS®.
Looking back further, last month’s new listing total is 2.1 per cent above the ten-year average for November.
The total number of properties currently listed for sale on the Greater Vancouver MLS® sits at 14,090, a decline of
9 per cent compared to October 2011 but an increase of 13 per cent when compared to this time last year.
The MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver over
the last 12 months has increased 7.2 per cent to $622,087 in November 2011 from $580,080 in November 2010.
Since reaching a peak in June of $630,921, the benchmark price for all residential properties in the region has declined 1.4 per cent.
Sales of detached properties on the MLS® in November 2011 reached 916, a decrease of 12.8 per cent from the
1,050 detached sales recorded in November 2010, and a 21.3 per cent decrease from the 1,164 units sold in November
2009. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 11.4 per cent from November 2010 to $890,204.
Sales of apartment properties reached 1,000 in November 2011, a 4.9 per cent decrease compared to the 1,052 sales
in November 2010, and a decrease of 28.4 per cent compared to the 1,396 sales in November 2009. The benchmark
price of an apartment property increased 2.7 per cent from November 2010 to $399,686.
Attached property sales in November 2011 totalled 444, a 9.1 per cent increase compared to the 407 sales in November 2010, and a 15.1 per cent decrease from the 523 attached properties sold in November 2009. The benchmark
price of an attached unit increased 4.5 per cent between November 2010 and 2011 to $510,960
Existing home sales rose slightly in November as continued low borrowing costs pushed housing closer to seller's market territory, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Thursday.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales were up 0.5 per cent in November over October -the third straight monthly gain -and were also ahead of last year's levels, though overall sales were in line with the 10-year average, CREA said.
"Despite numerous headwinds - slower job growth, softer consumer confidence, tighter mort-gage rules, elevated household debt and high valuations - buyers simply couldn't resist the lure of cheap borrowing costs - especially given the benign rate out-look," Sal Guatieri, senior economist with BMO Capital Markets, said in a note.
While sales rose in about 60 per cent of local markets, the Halifax-Dartmouth region of Nova Scotia accounted for much November's numbers, with sales rising by 41.5 per cent, the largest single monthly gain for the region since February 1992, according to Francis Fong, an economist with TD Economics. Rising sales there more than offset a 3.3-per-cent decline in Toronto.
To November, there were 432,048 houses sold through the Canadian MLS systems in 2011, CREA said, a 2.1-per-cent gain from the same period in 2010. The average sale price in November was $360,396, a year-over-year increase of 4.6 per cent, which CREA says is the smallest increase since January.
November's new listings fell 3.4 per cent from the previous month, down in more than two-thirds of Canada's housing markets, CREA said, led by Toronto, the Hamilton-Burlington area of Ontario and Calgary.
Analysts are expecting the nation-al housing market to moderate in 2012, with a weak first half followed by a stronger six months.
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