Vancouver house prices make it top city for personal net worth

VANCOUVER — Metro Vancouver households were the wealthiest in Canada in 2007. But with falling house prices, the gap between Metro and other cities is getting smaller, according to a study released Tuesday by Pitney Bowes Business Insight.

Average household net worth of those living in the Vancouver census metropolitan area (CMA) was $592,851, followed by the Toronto CMA at $562,173.

The average household wealth of those living in Victoria, the only other B.C. city on the list, was $544,542, fourth highest after third-place Calgary.

If $592,851 sounds like more than what most of us are worth, that’s not surprising.

Tail-end of the B.C. housing tailspin looms

For years, the real estate market in B.C.'s Lower Mainland acted a lot like the mythical perpetual motion machine.

Buyers were jumping into the market because prices were rising and, hey, why miss out on the capital-gains fun? So sales jumped, and bidding wars ensued, sending prices a little further up into the stratosphere – and luring more buyers into the market. The mere fact that prices were rising far above historical rates, and well beyond any rational measure of affordability, was of no consequence.

Of no consequence, that is, until last summer, when prices started to edge downward, and the wheels of the great B.C. perpetual motion machine stopped spinning. A tiny drop in average prices – 2.3 per cent between May and August – coincided with an enormous drop in volume. The drop in the volume of sales accelerated through the winter.

Real estate transactions 3/20/09

•Erich Kasch has purchased 1.95 acres at King’s Landing Apartments, 1420 N.W. 20th St., in Corvallis, from Charles Stevens for $3.6 million. Chuck Brazer and Jordan Carter of GVA Kidder Mathews represented the buyer. Ira Virden of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller.

•Ganesh Sonpatki has purchased 15,000 square feet at the Harlow Hotel Building, 722-738 N.W. Glisan St., in Portland, from Old 82 LLC for $950,000. Charles Conrow and Todd VanDomelen of Norris & Stevens Inc. represented the buyer. Michael Kapnick of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller.

Sales up in the real estate market

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - There is some good news in the real estate market. Sales were up a bit last month. Numbers from the BC Real Estate Association show sales jumped 17 per cent from January to February.

The Association credits low prices and historic low interest rates for the increase. Sales are still off by half from a year ago, and the value of properties listed on MLS is also down 50-per cent from February of 2008.