The Vancouver housing market showed a sharp rebound in 2009 after starting the year with near record low sales.
More than 35,600 homes were sold – a 44.8-per-cent jump from 2008, but a 6.3 per cent dip from 2007, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said in a news release Tuesday.
Low interest rates and a recovering economy helped push home sales near or past monthly records in the last part of 2009, board president Scott Russell said.
"December's home sales rank as the third highest selling December in the 90-year history of our organization," said Russell.
Residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 2,515 in December 2009, an increase of 172.2 per cent from the 924 sales recorded in December 2008.. A shrinking inventory helped boost residential prices.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Supply, demand, and a real estate rebound
Alittle over a year ago Greater Vancouver's real estate market threatened to grind to a halt, gripped by panic and confusion. After a seven-year boom, many believed the global economic and credit crises were enough to kill our market and that recovery from them was years away. Even after interest rates dropped dramatically, many chose to sidestep the market and wait to ''see what happens.''
Many did not contemplate the rate at which our population grows, and the resulting pressure on real estate. They may not have realized it, but people who wait out the market typically find themselves competing against almost 1,000 more people every week in need of a home in Greater Vancouver.
In early 2009 I advised prospective buyers to beware the peril of waiting for news of the market bottom before buying a home because such statistical feedback tends to materialize too late to be useful.
Many did not contemplate the rate at which our population grows, and the resulting pressure on real estate. They may not have realized it, but people who wait out the market typically find themselves competing against almost 1,000 more people every week in need of a home in Greater Vancouver.
In early 2009 I advised prospective buyers to beware the peril of waiting for news of the market bottom before buying a home because such statistical feedback tends to materialize too late to be useful.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Real estate claws itself out of a hole
VANCOUVER - When condo marketer Cameron McNeill stood to make a speech at his company’s Christmas party, he presided over an upbeat crowd of developers, realtors and industry insiders.
Dressed casually in a Hawaiian shirt, wearing a lei for the Polynesian-themed soiree at Chill Winston in Gastown, McNeill remarked that the brisk sales and project launches that have marked the end of this year are a long way from the dark days of last December.
A year ago, developers were putting projects on ice, and sales in Metro Vancouver’s resale housing market dropped to 924 transactions in December, half of what they were in December 2007.
Dressed casually in a Hawaiian shirt, wearing a lei for the Polynesian-themed soiree at Chill Winston in Gastown, McNeill remarked that the brisk sales and project launches that have marked the end of this year are a long way from the dark days of last December.
A year ago, developers were putting projects on ice, and sales in Metro Vancouver’s resale housing market dropped to 924 transactions in December, half of what they were in December 2007.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Vancouver Real Estate enecdote echive
Prediction For The Coming Decade: A Real Estate Bear Market Will Be Vancouver’s Defining Social And Economic Event.
A remarkable decade comes to a close. The dotcom bust, 9/11, the US sub-prime housing mess, extreme loonie volatility, failing forestry, commodity roller-coaster rides, the stock market crash of 2008, global recession. Each of these events affected Vancouver’s economy in an exceedingly limited fashion. The strength of the Real Estate market saw us through, and RE was without doubt the social and economic story of the decade. Now, factors threatening market health have steadily accumulated, and in our opinion they are approximating a critical mass. A virtuous cycle is about to turn vicious. All evidence suggests that Vancouver Real Estate is heading for a very significant bear market. Unfortunately, conditions have become so distorted that a simple return to normal will have profound and prolonged consequences for our city. The coming housing bust will effect all Vancouverites, and the fallout will not be good. For our city, this RE crash will quite likely be the defining social and economic event of the next decade. The factors in the drama are distilled below.
A remarkable decade comes to a close. The dotcom bust, 9/11, the US sub-prime housing mess, extreme loonie volatility, failing forestry, commodity roller-coaster rides, the stock market crash of 2008, global recession. Each of these events affected Vancouver’s economy in an exceedingly limited fashion. The strength of the Real Estate market saw us through, and RE was without doubt the social and economic story of the decade. Now, factors threatening market health have steadily accumulated, and in our opinion they are approximating a critical mass. A virtuous cycle is about to turn vicious. All evidence suggests that Vancouver Real Estate is heading for a very significant bear market. Unfortunately, conditions have become so distorted that a simple return to normal will have profound and prolonged consequences for our city. The coming housing bust will effect all Vancouverites, and the fallout will not be good. For our city, this RE crash will quite likely be the defining social and economic event of the next decade. The factors in the drama are distilled below.
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