Monday, December 27, 2010 Vancouver Real Estate in 2010: The Year in Reviewby Jules Seaman on Mon, Dec, 27, 2010 04:34 PM  Vancouverites will tell you Vancouver is one of the best places in the world to live, and for years now quality of life surveys have been backing up this claim. With that quality of life, however, comes an expensive real estate market – the sixth highest in the world, the second in North America, and the most expensive in the country. 2010 has been a landmark year for Vancouver, but what has that meant for the Vancouver real estate market? And where does that leave us going into 2011?
2010 Winter Olympics and the Vancouver Real Estate Market
2010 began with a steady climb in real estate prices and sales, as the Vancouver real estate market continued the trend established in 2009, when a recovery from the recession first became evident. As the 2010 Olympic Games drew closer, however, the real estate market moved beyond recovery and into growth. In April 2010 Vancouver residential property sales peaked at 3,512, and benchmark prices of residential properties reached all time highs.
Real Estate Market Levels Off
After the spike in activity surrounding the 2010 Olympics died down, the Vancouver real estate market leveled off, and has remained relatively stable for the rest of the year. While housing sales after April initially dropped and prices increased at a much slower rate, the last couple of months show relatively little change from the summer; home sales have improved and the downward pressure on prices has eased, indicating a balanced market appealing to buyers and sellers alike.
Property Taxes to Rise in 2011
So what is the outlook for 2011? The Vancouver real estate market appears to have found some stability that will last at least into the first part of the New Year. One thing buyers should keep in mind, however, is the recently announced hike in property taxes. Although last week council voted to increase Vancouver property taxes by an average of 2.2% (up from the projected 2% increase) in 2011, residential property owners will take the hardest hit. Property taxes for home owners will rise by 4.2%, while those for businesses will only increase by only 0.2%, reports the Vancouver Sun. The extra funds flowing into the city are intended to be used for homeless and anti-gang programs, libraries, parks boards and other public programs, so here’s hoping the tax hike will help us maintain that quality of life for which Vancouver is renowned.
For information on Vancouver real estate listings, please contact experienced Vancouver realtor Jules Seaman.
Saturday, December 4, 2010 Vancouver Real Estate Salesby Jules Seaman on Sat, Dec, 4, 2010 04:40 PM Categories: Attached Properties, Benchmark Prices, Detached Properties, Home Sales, Housing Prices, Jules Seaman, Vancouver, Vancouver Listings, Vancouver Properties, Vancouver Real Estate, Vancouver Realtor
 Greater Vancouver residential home sales improved in November compared to the previous four months, with the number of sales posted on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) coming in slightly higher than the 10-year average for that month.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that the number of residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 2,509 in November 2010. This represents a 7.4 per cent increase compared to October 2010 and an 18.6 per cent decline from the 3,083 sales in November 2009.
Looking back further, last month’s residential sales represent a 187.1 per cent increase over the 874 residential sales in November 2008, a 13 per cent decline compared to November 2007’s 2,883 sales, and a 6.4 per cent increase compared to the 2,358 sales in November 2006.
“Housing sales numbers were fairly typical for a November and indicate a fairly balanced market. Activity on the buyer side has been stable, with slight increases, over the last few months while the number of homes listed for sale in our region has declined each month since we reached a peak in June,” Jake Moldowan, REBGV president said.
Total active residential property listings in Greater Vancouver currently sit at 12,384, a 12.1 per cent  decline from last month and a 12 per cent increase from November 2009. New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties declined 17.1 per cent to 3,030 in November 2010 compared to November 2009 when 3,653 new units were listed.
“Home values have been relatively stable over the last five months compared to the summer period when we were seeing some downward pressure on prices,” Moldowan said. “It’s the homes priced accurately for today’s market that are receiving a lot of attention and selling right now.”
The MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver over the last 12 months has increased 4.1 per cent to $580,080 in November 2010 from $557,384 in November 2009. This price has remained virtually unchanged since June of this year.
Sales of detached properties on the MLS® in November 2010 reached 1,050, a decrease of 9.8 per cent from the 1,164 detached sales recorded in November 2009, and a 226.1 per cent increase from the 322 units sold in November 2008. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 5.6 per cent from November 2009 to $799,312.
Sales of apartment properties reached 1,052 in November 2010, a decline of 24.6 per cent compared to the 1,396 sales in November 2009, and an increase of 156.6 per cent compared to the 410 sales in November 2008.The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 1.9 per cent from November 2009 to $389,168.
Attached property sales in November 2010 totalled 407, a decline of 22.2 per cent compared to the 523 sales in November 2009, and a 186.6 per cent increase from the 142 attached properties sold in November 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 4.1 per cent between November 2009 and 2010 to $488,733.
For information on Vancouver real estate listings, please contact experienced Vancouver realtor Jules Seaman.
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