March 2008 real estate news from Vancouver

Vancouver for Homes Monthly Newsletter

Welcome to our newsletter on Vancouver’s real estate market. We are here to help you buy or sell real estate in the Greater Vancouver area and through our partners in many areas of B.C.

March 2008

WHAT'S IN A CANADIAN HOME

This is a article will be of particular interest to people from outside Canada as it gives a brief overview of what you might find in a Canadian home.

BRICKS

Homes in BC are mostly constructed of timber frames. When you see bricks they are almost always a veneer - like tiles applied to the outside of the home. More often though, the exterior will be partially or completely covered with timber siding. This looks like planks of wood laid horizontally. It may be real wood, or vinyl made to look like wood.

You can also see shingles, which are small squares of wood, usually cedar. These overlap each other in rows and look much like a shingle roof.

You may also see stucco. This is a render that is applied over the exterior (like pebble dash in the UK). It is advisable to check for water penetration.

APPLIANCES

It is common practice for homes to be sold with the appliances, though you should check exactly what is included. A good home inspector will check that these appliances are in working order. The appliances you expect are the stove, dishwasher, fridge/freezer, washer and dryer. You may also get the microwave.

A brand new home will not necessarily include the appliances.

WINDOW COVERINGS

The window coverings - drapes and/or blinds - are normally included in the sale of the home.

HEATING SYSTEMS

Heating in the home can be via a combination of any or all of the following: forced air, baseboard heaters, fireplaces and underfloor heating. These may use gas or electricity to heat the air or water. Newer fireplaces are mostly gas or occasionally electric. Only older homes are able to have wood burning fires. Whatever the heating methods your home inspector should check them over.

PARKING

A detached home will usually have a garage or car port since cars are still pretty much essential in most areas. Even downtown condos will usually have one parking stall assigned. If the apartment does not come with one, you may be able to rent one from another resident. As parking charges increase in downtown Vancouver, these parking stalls will become more valuable I suppose.

SUITE

A suite is loosely defined as a self-contained apartment within the home. However within the area covered by our real estate board there are 19 local governments that have laws relating to secondary suites. This is too large a topic to cover here, but if there is a suite in the home you are considering buying then you should find out about the laws that relate to it in that area. This is particularly true if you are hoping to use this as a mortgage helper.

REAL ESTATE MARKET

MARKET SLOWLY IMPROVING FOR BUYERS

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential attached, detached and apartment property sales totalled 2,676 in February 2008, a decline of 6.4 per cent from the 2,859 residential sales recorded in February 2007, and a decline of 9 per cent compared to the 2, 941 sales in February 2006.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties rose 26.2 per cent to 5,260 in February 2008 compared with February 2007, which had 4,167 units listed. New listings this February rose 21.2 per cent over new listings figures from February 2006.

“We continue to see the market rebalance, particularly with detached properties, where listings climb and sales either hold or decline slightly,” says REBGV president Brian Naphtali. “This shift increases buyer options and allows people more time to make decisions when purchasing a home.”

Sales of detached properties declined 11.2 per cent to 995 from the 1,121 detached sales totalled over the same period in 2007. The benchmark price, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, for detached properties rose 14.1 per cent from February 2007 to $761,342.

Sales of apartment properties in February 2008 declined 5.7 per cent to 1,197, compared to 1,269 sales in February 2007. The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 12.7 per cent from February 2007 to $387,032.

Attached property sales in February 2008 increased 3.2 per cent to 484, compared with the 469 sales in February 2007. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 12.9 per cent between February 2007 and 2008 to $472,147. .

METRO VANCOUVER BENCHMARK

The Vancouver Real Estate Board publishes a benchmark that tracks the price of a benchmark property across the region. There are three categories:

Detached
These are houses, sometimes called single family homes
Attached
This refers to townhouses and half duplexes.
Apartments
This means apartments within high or low rise buildings.

I have set out the benchmark prices across the region, with the annual percentage price rises in brackets and 3 year percentage rise in square brackets.

DETACHED BENCHMARK PRICES

Greater Vancouver $761,342 (14.1%), [3yr: 54.8%]
Burnaby $763,810 (14.9%), [3yr: 55.2%]
Coquitlam $653,056 (7.7%), [3yr: 58.1%]
South Delta $658,402 (12.4%), [3yr: 44.7%]
Maple Ridge $458,349 (9.1%), [3yr: 39.2%]
New Westminster $591,953 (16%), [3yr: 52.3%]
North Vancouver $881,767 (11.2%), [3yr: 42.9%]
Pitt Meadows $511,811 (16.1%), [3yr: 43.7%]
Port Coquitlam $556,393 (16.5%), [3yr: 51.9%]
Port Moody $721,980 (11.2%), [3yr: 61%]
Richmond $774,133 (16.3%), [3yr: 60%]
Squamish $582,127 (26.6%), [3yr: 52.4%]
Sunshine Coast $428,139 (10.5%), [3yr: 49%]
Vancouver East $685,945 (12.1%), [3yr: 54.8%]
Vancouver West $1,453,195 (20.7%), [3yr: 75.6%]
West Vancouver $1,476,600 (25.4%), [3yr: 55.7%]

ATTACHED BENCHMARK PRICES

Greater Vancouver $472,147 (12.7%), [3yr: 50.3%]
Burnaby $462,455 (13.9%), [3yr: 50.5%]
Coquitlam $425,927 (9.9%), [3yr: 48.5%]
South Delta $456,281 (16.3%), [3yr: 67.3%]
Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows $309,970 (8.5%), [3yr: 38%]
North Vancouver $619,968 (13%), [3yr: 47.1%]
Port Coquitlam $393,743 (11.9%), [3yr: 48.1%]
Port Moody $408,024 (10.5%), [3yr: 60.7%]
Richmond $460,797 (13.5%), [3yr: 51.7%]
Vancouver East $504,797 (12.7%), [3yr: 57.2%]
Vancouver West $724,539 (15.8%), [3yr: 52.8%]

APARTMENT BENCHMARK PRICES

Greater Vancouver $387,032 (12.9%), [3yr: 59.7%]
Burnaby $342,478 (11.4%), [3yr: 57.7%]
Coquitlam $304,151 (13.7%), [3yr: 67.3%]
South Delta $340,826 (7.9%), [3yr: 45.2%]
Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows $260,862 (7.4%), [3yr: 60.1%]
New Westminster $300,928 (13.9%), [3yr: 59.7%]
North Vancouver $393,958 (10.6%), [3yr: 53.7%]
Port Coquitlam $258,676 (10.3%), [3yr: 62.8%]
Port Moody $305,032 (8.8%), [3yr: 54.8%]
Richmond $313,756 (11.2%), [3yr: 61.7%]
Vancouver East $329,376 (18.1%), [3yr: 74.5%]
Vancouver West $498,392 (14%), [3yr: 57.9%]
West Vancouver $604,721 (7.9%), [3yr: 38.3%]

TIME TO BUY OR SELL

If you are looking to buy or sell property then we can help you. We work for you either as a buyer’s agent, to help you find your next property, or as a listing agent. If we cannot help you personally we have excellent partners in most areas within B.C. We and our partners are licensed realtors with the experience and knowledge to help you make your next move a success. Call us to find out how we can help you now.

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