Greater Vancouver Real Estate Strong through Olympic Month
Although real estate experts predicted a slow month because of the Olympics, sales figures were much better than expected. Experts anticipated Olympic excitement would distract buyers from the market, but in fact, it remained a buyer's market throughout the Fraser Valley.
Sales figures continued to show month-over-month gains this February with a 23 per cent jump in sales compared to January. This figure, which represents 1,204 sales recorded by the Multiple Listing Service, was also 77 per cent higher than the 2009 figures for the same month. Lower mortgage rates are partly responsible but many real estate professionals credit changing mortgage rules and taxes for this jump in sales.
Buyers are well informed about changes that will make purchasing new homes more expensive. New mortgage rules are set to take hold in April and the harmonized sales tax will be unleashed in July so many buyers want to complete their sales before these changes come in effect.
Moreover, February saw a jump in the number of homes listed to 2,879 homes for sale during February, an increase of 14 per cent over January. More shockingly, this increase is 77 per cent higher than listings in February 2009 which indicates that the real estate market is recovering nicely.
Another statistic that supports market recovery is the drop in inventory of unsold homes throughout the Fraser Valley. In February 2010 there were 12 per cent fewer unsold homes than February 2009. This means 8,485 units went unsold last month. However, the market is inching toward balanced status as the proportion of sales to inventory equaled 14 per cent. While this is still within buyer's territory and price increases have been modest, balanced market territory is not far off.
The benchmark price for residential units in the Fraser Valley has increased less than one per cent from January to February and these moderate price gains have been the story for the last 3 months. Compared to a year ago, however, benchmark house prices have jumped 11.3 percent to $508,136. For townhouses, the benchmark is also up from February 2009 a total of about 10 per cent to #324,708.
Sales figures continued to show month-over-month gains this February with a 23 per cent jump in sales compared to January. This figure, which represents 1,204 sales recorded by the Multiple Listing Service, was also 77 per cent higher than the 2009 figures for the same month. Lower mortgage rates are partly responsible but many real estate professionals credit changing mortgage rules and taxes for this jump in sales.
Buyers are well informed about changes that will make purchasing new homes more expensive. New mortgage rules are set to take hold in April and the harmonized sales tax will be unleashed in July so many buyers want to complete their sales before these changes come in effect.
Moreover, February saw a jump in the number of homes listed to 2,879 homes for sale during February, an increase of 14 per cent over January. More shockingly, this increase is 77 per cent higher than listings in February 2009 which indicates that the real estate market is recovering nicely.
Another statistic that supports market recovery is the drop in inventory of unsold homes throughout the Fraser Valley. In February 2010 there were 12 per cent fewer unsold homes than February 2009. This means 8,485 units went unsold last month. However, the market is inching toward balanced status as the proportion of sales to inventory equaled 14 per cent. While this is still within buyer's territory and price increases have been modest, balanced market territory is not far off.
The benchmark price for residential units in the Fraser Valley has increased less than one per cent from January to February and these moderate price gains have been the story for the last 3 months. Compared to a year ago, however, benchmark house prices have jumped 11.3 percent to $508,136. For townhouses, the benchmark is also up from February 2009 a total of about 10 per cent to #324,708.
posted by VancouverResidence
