Richmond Real Estate Market Up-date

Canadians are cautiously optimistic that the real estate market in Canada may be insulated from the decline in house prices in the US. The table below summarized Richmond's 2006 and 2007 home sales as reported by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver:

Housing analysts expect the 2008 Greater Vancouver housing market to remain positive, projecting price further gain of 5% to 8% for the year. Others are cautious that the US downturn will eventually spread to Canada.

Absorption Rate. The health of the Greater Vancouver housing market and the sale and pricing trend for Richmond can be best monitored by tracking the "absorption rate". This is a measure of the supply and demand for housing. It is expressed in months to sell all the units currently listed for sale on the MLS system. It helps both buyers and sellers understand what’s going on in the market.

When listings take a long time to sell, prices will drop. When there is not much supply, buyers are willing to pay more, prices will rise.

Taking the total active listings divide by the sale for the month (or average monthly sale), the absorption rate can be determined. According to generally accepted figure, 6 months supply is considered a balanced housing market. Over 6 months supply represents a buyer’s market, and under 6 a seller’s market.

You can click here to view Richmond's recent housing market activities and price trend for February, 2008.