Wednesday, November 17, 2009
October home sales rise to highest number in 6 years (Vancouver Sun)

British Columbia racked up the highest numbers of home sales for the month of October, since 2003, the B.C. Real Estate Association reported Tuesday, with Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Victora, the hottest markets.
Realtors cleared 8,624 sales through the Multiple Listing Service in October, up 115% from the same month a year ago, but 44% of all those sales were in the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver’s territory.
Those 3,767 sales in what is primarily Metro Vancouver, represented a 171% increase from October 2008.
It was a similar situation in the Fraser Valley, where 1,583 sales in October, represented a 120% increase from the same month a year ago.
In Victoria, the 691 sales recored in Octoer, was a 135% advance from October 2008, and the board that covers Kelowna, saw 597 sales, or a 109% increase.
Sales in those markets, Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, and Victoria, are largely driven by the "pent up" demand of buyers who sat out last fall, and are now being drawn in by current low interest rates. 
Cameron Muir, the BC Real Estate Association’s chief economist, said the demand that built up is quickly being satisfied, and as prices in the Lower Mainland and Victoria rise, that will help to sqeeze more buyers out of the market later in 2010 and act to slow sales.
On a provincial basis, the average MLS home price was $493,328 in October, up 17% from the same month a year ago.
In Metro Vancouver, the average MLS home price was up 15% to $638,948 compared with October 2008.  In the Fraser Valley, average prices are up almost 8% to $445,637 compard with the same month a year ago.
"If you look at sales-to-listing ratios we see in the Fraser Valley, Greater Vancouver and Victoria, they’re all over 20%" Muir says. "That is typically "sellers-market" territory, which indicates some upward pressure on prices".
Other markets, however, are below that threshold and in "more balanced" conditions, with more stable pricing.
In Kamloops, for instance, October's average home price of $297,673 was still almost 3% below the average in the same month a year ago.
"That pent-up demand in the Lower Mainland, is finite, meaning it is likely to be expended in the coming months" Muir said. "And home sales, on the coast anyway, will drift down to levels more representative of the state of our economy".

News Release December 2, 2009

BUSIER THAN NORMAL NOVEMBER FOR FRASER VALLEY REAL ESTATE MARKET
(Surrey, BC) - The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) processed 1,522 sales on its Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) in November, an increase of 200 per cent compared to the 507 sales during the same month last year and only 10.7 per cent less than in October.
“Interest rates continue to be a strong motivator resulting in unseasonably high real estate sales for this time of year,” said Paul Penner, President of the Board.
“We typically see both sales and listing activity slow in November as people start to get ready for the holidays and we did experience that on the listing side, but not in sales. This was the second busiest November Fraser Valley REALTORS® have seen in ten years.”
The number of active Fraser Valley listings in November decreased 5.4 per cent from October, dropping to 8,334 listings. This represents a 29.4 per cent decrease from last year. The MLS® saw 2,093 new listings come on stream in November, 26 per cent fewer than were received in October, however, 12 per cent more than were received in November last year.
The benchmark price of a detached home in October was $497,697, an increase of 6.5 per cent compared to November 2008, when it was $467,497.
The benchmark price of townhouses increased 2.3 per cent from $308,647 in November 2008 to $315,890 last month. The benchmark price of apartments also increased year-over-year by 1.9 per cent, going from $231,498 in November of last year to $235,842 in November 2009.
“Although prices are edging up, buyers seeking value and lifestyle continue to find both in the Fraser Valley,” said Penner. “In November, 70 per cent of all homes and 46 per cent of single detached homes sold for under $500,000, indicative of a diverse housing stock across our six communities.”
Penner says the average days on market in the Fraser Valley remains competitive: 56 days on average for single detached homes; 46 days on average for townhomes; and, 58 days on average for apartments.