Predicted slowdown in price increases fails to materialize
Ashley Ford
Province
Most Greater Vancouver housing prices continued to climb at double-digit rates last month
GREATER VANCOUVER – The Greater Vancouver housing market is humming to such an extent that realtors now won’t even hazard a guess at where it might end up this year.
“This is a crazy market. No one out there can predict what is going to happen except to say that so far it is as strong as it has ever been,” Les Twarog, a downtown and city real-estate specialist with RE/Max, said yesterday.
Most pundits predicted a slight calming of the market this year with increases in the seven- to nine-per-cent range, but they continue to race along at a double-digit pace and, in some instances, buyers are paying above the listing price. That situation has existed for the past two or three years.
“I have to admit this market is surprising every realtor,” said Twarog.
“The buying demand remains strong, resulting in double-digit increases and yet it is being 90 per cent driven by local buyer demand.”
Many buyers are also making hefty down payments and it appears buying is being driven by baby boomers who are helping out their children.
Twarog said sellers are also keenly aware of the market and are prepared to sit on their property until they get their price.
“Anything under $500,000 sells right away, especially downtown. Higher-priced properties take a little longer, but they do sell,” he said.
Twarog said a good measure of interest is that his website, www.6717000.com, receives 150,000 hits a day.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported yesterday that multiple-listing residential sales last month of 3,582 units actually decreased 11.2 per cent compared to 4,033 sales in March 2006.
“Consumer demand for property in the Greater Vancouver area is still very, very high and the market is heating up as a result,” said board president Brian Naphtali.
“With year-over-year, double-digit price increases pushing the average price for a single-family home to near record levels, sellers are continuing to get excellent value for their homes throughout Greater Vancouver. Despite these price increases, buyers are still not shying away from this market, either,” he said.
And even an increase in the total housing inventory won’t curb price rises as it simply opens new opportunities for buyers to get into the market, especially in the highly active condo and apartment sector.
The benchmark price of an apartment property in Greater Vancouver stood at $349,373 in March, up 14.5 per cent from a year ago.
The benchmark price of an attached unit was $428,299, up 13.9 per cent, while a detached unit was $682,173, up 11.8 per cent from March 2006.
© The Vancouver Province 2007
