Year Over Year Price Index for
Maple Ridge in July 2011
The Vancouver real estate market has remained in top shape even during the global financial crisis and the recession, so there’s no wonder that demand and prices went up and many Canadians as well as non-Canadians (especially mainland Chinese) are looking for affordable homes in the vicinity of one of the world’s best places to live (according to the Economist Intelligence Unit). It’s natural to look for relatively better priced homes in suburban areas like Maple Ridge. If you’re considering buying or selling in this beautiful municipality, a look at the Maple Ridge real estate numbers is an important step that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Before we analyze Maple Ridge, let’s have a look at the big picture. The housing market in the Greater Vancouver Area (GVA) has remained in a slightly unsteady equilibrium throughout the summer season of 2011. Competitively priced properties sold at a quick pace, and it took an average of 41 days to sell a property in the GVA. Sales of residential homes were rather low in July, totalling 2,517 transactions through the Multiple Listing Service, which was 17.3 per cent lower than the ten-year average for sales in July.
Maple Ridge Real Estate
Month Over Month Price Index for
Maple Ridge in July 2011
Maple Ridge is a great suburban community located some 45 kilometres from Downtown Vancouver, North of the banks of the Fraser River. The district municipality is one of the largest in Metro Vancouver, stretching across 33,000 acres, with a population of about 69,000. Maple Ridge is a district with good conditions for education, sports, and arts. It’s a growing community that has experienced rapid population growth over the last 20 years. Apart from that, Maple Ridge boasts a socially cohesive community using cutting-edge environmental technologies, social networks, and thoughtful development.
The real estate market statistics feature only the numbers for detached houses, as the municipality of Maple Ridge consists mainly of detached houses, and other housing types are rarely sold. The typical benchmark property in Maple Ridge sold for $454,080 in July 2011, which is not much of a change compared to last year (a rise by 0.2 per cent). The prices were 2.1 per cent higher in July 2008 and have gone up just 13 per cent since July 2006. This development points to a sustainable affordability in the area.
Maple Ridge Price Index
Three Year Trend for
Maple Ridge Housing Price Index
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver estimates the percentage change in price of a typical, constant quality property over time by its Housing Price Index (HPI), which is measured by points. The index was averaged to 100 in 2001, so the index gives you a clear picture of how much prices have appreciated since. The July 2011 HPI for Maple Ridge detached houses was 207.1 points, which is very low compared to the Greater Vancouver average of 266.2. When we look at the three-year trend, we can see that the Maple Ridge trend-line follows the ups and downs of the Greater Vancouver average, while remaining constantly considerably lower. The difference is actually growing over time, as there were some 25 HPI points between the two trend-lines in 2008, but this gap widened to almost 60 HPI points in July 2011. We can attribute this to rising prices in Downtown Vancouver areas, which, thanks to increased demand in the high end of the market, helped the Greater Vancouver residential average grow faster. The HPI started at roughly 200 points in the beginning of 2011 and remained stable during January, but jumped during the spring months to about 215 points in May 2011. The index fell to 205.1 points in June 2011 and recovered somewhat to reach 207.1 points in July 2011.
All data and graphs courtesy of Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.