Vancouver Westside HPI
click on graph to enlarge
In the February 2011 Monthly Statistical Report by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), REGBV’s president pointed out the importance of focusing on statistics for the individual neighbourhoods of the Greater Vancouver Area when analyzing the real estate conditions and situations. Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, the extra time spent researching the real estate statistics for your neighbourhood or the neighbourhood of your choice will pay off, as real estate activity varies greatly across the communities of Greater Vancouver. Following our series of real estate statistics for Greater Vancouver neighbourhoods, let’s have a look at the Vancouver Westside real estate statistics.
Vancouver West (not to be confused with the separate district municipality of West Vancouver) has seen particularly high sales volumes in February 2011, with benchmark prices rising to $1,850,072 for detached housing, which was up by $222,185 from November 2010. Attached houses typically sold for $805,288 and apartment housing had a benchmark price of $514,129 in the Vancouver West neighbourhood in February 2011. The Greater Vancouver residential average benchmark price was $605,544 in February 2011.
According to the REBGV Housing Price Index (HPI), which measures the percentage increase in price on typical and constant-quality properties over time (set to 100 in 2001), Vancouver West detached homes sold in February 2011 were over three times more expensive than ten years ago, reaching an HPI of 307.0 points. This is an 11 per cent increase year-over-year, a 27.3 per cent rise from 2008 and a 75.6 per cent hike in a 5-year period. Attached housing recorded an HPI of 287.4 points in February 2011, which was a significant growth of 11 per cent from the month before, 5.1 up year-over-year, 11.2 up from February 2008 and a 51.6 hike from February 2006. Apartment prices rose at a slower pace, but still increased to reach 261.5 HPI points, which was a rise of 1.6 per cent year-over-year, a 3.2 per cent increase compared to February 2008 and a 33.1 jump from February 2006.
When we compare the long-term trend lines of the individual residential housing types in Vancouver West to the Greater Vancouver residential average trend line, the correlation between them is not as strong as it is with some other Greater Vancouver neighbourhoods. The detached housing trend line held on to the residential average from the beginning of 2008, but slipped considerably in October 2008. The segment was in a severe crisis until May 2009, when a quick recovery occurred and the index started a smooth rise, surpassing the residential average and climbing to almost 250 HPI points in October 2009. After moderating slightly throughout October and November 2009, the HPI of detached housing started surging until it hit almost 280 HPI points in February 2010, when it levelled off for four months. After the stagnation period, another drop occurred in May 2010 and a slow rise continued until the index started skyrocketing in December 2010 to the February 2011 peak of 307 HPI points.
The Vancouver West attached housing trend line started the year 2008 oscillating around 260 HPI points, but then fell with the rest of the market, overshooting the residential average decline and bottoming out at about 205 HPI points in November 2008. The prices recovered quickly to about 230 HPI points in January 2009 and moderated until May 2009 when they started a period of steady growth until October 2009. The price index fell a little in November 2009, but instantly surged to almost 280 HPI points. The HPI then recovered slightly, levelling off at about 270 points in January 2010, and continued to oscillate around this level for the rest of the year. January 2011 saw a major drop in the HPI for attached housing in Vancouver West, which was immediately followed by record growth reaching 287.3 HPI points in February 2011.
The HPI for apartments in Vancouver West was the least volatile, following the residential average of Greater Vancouver closely. The HPI for apartments stayed some 5 HPI points above the average residential trend line constantly from February 2008 to February 2011 with very few fluctuations.