In January, Greater Vancouver MLS® home sales continued the rally that began last May. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says sales continued their recovery from the 2012 doldrums with a 30.3 increase over January 2013, and they beat the January 10-year average by 7.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, sellers jumped back in, adding the most new listings we’ve seen since last May. One temptation must have been the gradual increase in prices. Overall, the benchmark home price increased by 3.2 per cent from January 2013.
Sales and Listings
In all, 1,760 Greater Vancouver homes sold on the MLS in January compared to 1,953 in December and 1,351 the previous January.Of this January’s sales, 753 were apartments, 728 were detached houses and 279 were attached homes.
| Jan 2014 / Dec 2013 | Jan 2014 / Jan 2013 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Sales | -9.9% | +30.3% |
| - Detached | -4.6% | +34.3% |
| - Townhome | -18.2% | +19.7% |
| - Apartment | -11.4% | +30.7% |
| New Listings | +93.7% | +4.2% |
| Current Listings | +9.0% | -4.9% |
At month’s end there were 12,602 active listings on the Greater Vancouver MLS, up 9 per cent from December.
Increased listings and reduced sales dropped the sales-to-active-listings ratio, a measure of balance between supply and demand. At 14 per cent, it was the lowest it’s been since March 2013. The REBGV defines anything between 12 and 19 per cent as a balanced market, so the Greater Vancouver market has been in balance for 10 months.
Benchmark Price (MLS® Home Price Index)
Benchmark prices have been inching up since February 2013. Nothing spectacular—less than one per cent every month—until now we’ve got an overall gain of 3.2 per cent in a year.| Jan 2014 | Dec 2013 | Jan 2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | $929,700 | +0.3% | +3.2% |
| Townhome | $475,700 | +0.3% | +1.7% |
| Apartment | $371,500 | +1.0% | +3.7% |
Luxury Market Is Changing Neighbourhoods
Sales of detached houses over $4 million grew by 50 per cent last year, according to the latest Sotheby’s Top-Tier Real Estate Report. The CMHC also notes the luxury-home influence. In its Q3 2013 Housing Market Outlook
it says, “luxury single-detached homes accounted for over 18 per cent
of the total volume of sales, up from 15 per cent the same period a year
ago.”Much of this is fueled by the demolition of original houses in desirable neighbourhoods, to be replaced by bigger luxury houses worth twice the price.
“I remember one of my first sales here
was at W 15th back in late 1998. You could have bought a 33-foot lot for
$380,000 and build a house, sell a house for $1 million. There was a
margin there to build a house and make a profit and do another one. Well
now those lots are $1.7, and cost of construction has gone up. And for a
new house, you need $3 million to get a return.”
Three million dollars is a staggering price, but the hunger is there.
Up to 70 houses a month are torn down in Vancouver. The bargain fixer-upper is a thing of the past, and even
perfectly solid, updated homes are considered ′dozer bait in many areas.
This trend toward luxury housing is quickly changing older, character
neighbourhoods in Vancouver, the North Shore and Burnaby, and putting
single-family homes there out of reach for all but the wealthy.Boomers on the Move
Another growing influence on some Greater Vancouver markets is baby boomers. And as usual, they’re doing it their way.They’re not flocking to the carefree condo lifestyle the way they were expected to, for one thing.
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Yours,
Carmen Leal *Real Estate Services
Macdonald Realty Ltd.
Website: www.carmenleal.ca www.yaletownstudios.com
Email: carmen@carmenleal.ca
Direct: 604-218-4846
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