Vancouver Stanley Park
by cakeordeath
The Greater Vancouver Area market activity achieved excellent numbers this past summer. As predicted, home sale activity was below the ten-year average in August as well as June and July. However, increases in property listings and fewer home sales have helped move the housing market into the upper end of a buyers’ market.
There was a total of 2,246 residential property sales of apartment, detached, and semi-detached properties from the region’s Multiple Listing Service®. This year’s results show a 1.2 per cent increase compared to the 2,220 sales recorded in August 2010. These sales rank as the third lowest September total for the last ten years.
According to Rosario Setticasi, REBGV president, “There’s more competition amongst home sellers in today’s market, providing more options for prospective buyers. Buyers now have more properties to choose from and more time to make decisions compared to the spring season.”
Detached Properties sales (957 units) experienced a 10.5 per cent increase compared to September 2010 (866 units) and a 32.8 per cent decrease compared to September 2009 (1,423 units). The benchmark price increased 13.4 per cent from September 2010 to $896,701. Apartment property sales (922) decreased 5 per cent compared to September 2010 (971) and decreased 38.1 per cent compared to September 2009 (1,489). The benchmark price increased by 4.4 per cent from September 2010 to $405,569. Attached property sales (367 units) experienced a 4.2 per cent decrease compared to September 2010 (383 units), and a 43.3 per cent decrease compared to September 2009 (647 units). The benchmark price increased by 5.4 per cent since September 2010 to $516,697.
New listings for detached, attached, and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver show very interesting numbers. These include a net volume of 5,680 in September, the third highest volume for September in seventeen years! Compared to September 2010, when 4,731 properties were listed for sale on the MLS®, this year brought a 20.1 per cent increase and a 21.2 per cent raise from the 4,685 new listings reported in August 2011.