Tyler Gump

Buyer activity brings greater stability to the housing market

With more buyers and fewer homes for sale in recent months, the Greater Vancouver housing market has entered a more moderate and balanced state.

For the sixth consecutive month, new listings for detached, attached and apartment properties declined in Greater Vancouver, down 33.7 per cent to 4,649 in April 2009 compared to April 2008, when 7,010 new units were listed. The total number of property listings on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), while slightly down compared to last month, remains unchanged compared to the same period in 2008.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totaled 2,963 in April 2009, a decline of eight per cent from the 3,218 sales recorded in April 2008, and an increase of 31 per cent compared to last month.

“We’re seeing greater balance in the housing market, as evidenced by a strong sales to active listings ratio of over 19 per cent,” Scott Russell, REBGV president said. “The result is a relatively stable market in which homes are being realistically priced.

“The bridge between buyer demand and housing supply is continuing to narrow, which, as we see, helps bring stability to home prices,” he said. “The trends in our housing market over the last couple of months offer a much more comfortable, historically normal set of conditions.”

Sales of detached properties declined eight per cent to 1,190 from the 1,293 detached sales recorded during the same period in 2008. The benchmark price, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, for detached properties declined 12.2 per cent from April 2008 to $675,268.

Sales of apartment properties in April 2009 declined 10.5 per cent to 1,179, compared to 1,317 sales in April 2008. The benchmark price of an apartment property declined 12.6 per cent from April 2008 to $340,203.

Attached property sales in April 2009 are down 2.3 per cent to 594, compared with the 608 sales in April 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit decreased 9.7 per cent between April 2008 and 2009 to $431,759.

For more information on the Vancouver Real estate Market Please contact Tyler Gump with TRG Realty at tyler@thegumpgroup.com or visit www.thegumpgroup.com.

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My Perfect Home Match

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Most people are familiar with The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) offered by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, but not all available homes are MLS listings. There are so many other types of Listings including – Assignments, Pre Sales, Exclusive Listings, For Sale by Owners, and Bank Foreclosures to name a few. We match your search criteria against all these other sources as well coming up with more options for you to look at.

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For more information on this website or to start your new home search today please visit www.myperfecthomematch.com.

You can also contact us directly at:

The Gump Group

TRG Realty (Kitsilano)

778-859-2248

tyler@thegumpgroup.com

My Perfect Home Match

Sick and tired of looking and never finding the “right one”? Sit back, put your feet up and let us do the work for you.

My Perfect Home Match is a brand new website designed with the specific needs of Home Buyers and helping you find the "Perfect Home". At "myperfecthomematch.com" we assess your needs with a very detailed questionnaire which goes to great lengths to understand what it is exactly that you are looking for and help distinguish between wants & needs. This allows us to match your search criteria against the vast array of available homes and narrow your matched results from thousands to a select few that will best fit what you are looking for.

Most people are familiar with The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) offered by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, but not all available homes are MLS listings. There are so many other types of Listings including – Assignments, Pre Sales, Exclusive Listings, For Sale by Owners, and Bank Foreclosures to name a few. We match your search criteria against all these other sources as well coming up with more options for you to look at.

If you are a Real Estate Home Buyer then you need to visit www.myperfecthomematch.com. Your perfect match is just a click away.

For more information on this website or to start your new home search today please visit www.myperfecthomematch.com.

Property listings decrease, as February sales improve

March 3, 2009 – Residential housing sales in Greater Vancouver rose 94 per cent in February compared to the month before, with 1,480 sales registered in February compared to 762 sales in January, which was the slowest month for housing sales in 25 years. Over the past 10 years, February sales have typically surpassed January by an average increase of 53 per cent.

At the same time, new MLS® listings for residential properties continued to decrease for the fourth month in a row. New listings decreased 25.6 per cent in February compared to the previous year; 20 per cent in January; 8.6 per cent in December; and 10 per cent in November.

“There are terrific opportunities out there right now, but with property listings continuing to decrease, those opportunities may be available only for a brief window of time,” said Dave Watt, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

REBGV reports that year-over-year property sales in Greater Vancouver declined 44.7 per cent in February 2009 from the 2,676 sales recorded in February 2008. Year-over-year, those are the lowest sales figures for February since the mid-1980s.

“REALTORS® are reporting more activity compared to recent months as people begin to see whether their position in the housing market has strengthened as a result of falling interest rates and improved affordability,” Watt says. “It took, on average, 67 days to sell a home in Greater Vancouver in February, seven days less than last month, but behind the seller’s market of last February when the average stood at 33 days.

Sales of detached properties in February 2009 declined 41 per cent to 587 from the 995 units sold during the same period in 2008. The benchmark price, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, for detached properties declined 14.2 per cent from February 2008 to $653,452.

Sales of apartment properties declined 45.6 per cent last month to 650, compared to the 1,197 sales in February 2008. The benchmark price of an apartment property declined 13.9 per cent from February 2008 to $333,143.

Attached property sales in February 2009 decreased 49.8 per cent to 243, compared with the 484 sales during the same month in 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit declined 9.7 per cent between Februarys 2008 and 2009 to $426,268.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties declined 25.6 per cent to 3,916 in February 2009 compared to February 2008, when 5,260 new units were listed.

For more information on The Greater Vancouver Real Estate Market please contact Tyler Gump at tyler@thegumpgroup.com or visit www.thegumpgroup.com.

To start searching for your "Perfect Home" please visit www.myperfecthomematch.com