B.C. real estate returning to ‘seller’s market’: report
Posted on October 14, 2009 at 09:01:00 AM by Audrey
By Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun
VANCOUVER — Rising sales and limited listings have returned Canada to a “seller’s market,” with total B.C. home sales this year up nearly seven per cent compared to 2008, according to a Global Real Estate Trends report released Thursday by Scotia Economics.
“In terms of trends, sales in B.C. have been picking up since January,” Adrienne Warren, senior economist at Scotia Economics, said in an interview. “And it’s been increasing steadily since. For prices the low point was in April.”
The report concluded that home sales in 2009 in B.C., compiled to the end of August on a seasonally adjusted annual rate, rose to 73,211 units sold compared to 68,923 in 2008.
However, the average price of a home sold in B.C. is slightly down to $433,017 compared to $454,599 last year.
In Vancouver, home sales are up to 31,151 compared to 25,149 sold in 2008, while the average price for a sold home in Vancouver has fallen to $531,790 in 2009 from $593,767 in 2008.
Across Canada, the report noted that new home construction has also turned up, with the largest improvement in the four western provinces, with new home prices increasing in July for the first time since last September.
Warren said prices may be down in B.C., but that’s not unexpected because they dropped sharply in 2008 and are just now recovering.
"In B.C. and Vancouver, prices over the last several months have seen bigger increases than the national average trend. Overall, the B.C. economy is probably holding up a little better than what we’re seeing nationally.”
Warren also said that much of the sales pickup reflects people jumping back into the market. “A lot of people held back. That [market] could be satisfied by the end of the year.”
Warren predicted that B.C. and Vancouver should see modestly higher or sustained prices in 2010 if there’s a gradual prolonged recovery. She said resale markets should become more balanced next year as pent-up demand from depressed levels wanes and the number of listings increase. “It’s a healthy level [of sales], not a boom level, but we’re not looking for a big fallback in sales.”
The report said that despite the rise in new construction, the inventory of unsold new homes across the country appears to have peaked, having edged down for a third consecutive month in August. It noted that there is some sign that pent-up demand is being satisfied, with existing home sales across the country also edging down marginally in August, after six months of steady growth.
Tsur Somerville, director, centre for urban economics and real estate at the Sauder School of Business at the University of B.C., said in an interview that he’s not surprised by the report’s findings.
“You’ve got record sales numbers, but not a large number of new listings coming in,” said Somerville. “That’s tightened things up. If the listings were higher, you’d have less price pressure.”
Somerville said he believes sales volumes will weaken a bit this fall, because the economic conditions are not conducive to high sales.
Somerville said he’s also heard anecdotally that many buyers are now jumping into the market because they got very good pre-approved fixed mortgages in the late spring and are purchasing homes while those deals are still in effect. “The sense is that those kinds of deals aren’t [now] entirely available.”
Globally, the report notes that real estate markets are showing tentative but growing signs of stabilization, with firmer pricing evidence of growing confidence in the sustainability of the global economic recovery.
Warren said prices have increased in Canada, Australia and the United States,” but are falling in other markets, including the U.K., France and Spain, but at a slowing rate.
The report suggested that inflationary pressures will not be a factor for some time, keeping short-term interest rates at low levels.
International house prices (Inflation-adjusted, y/y % change):
2007 2008 2009 Q1 2009 Q2
Australia 9.0 0.1 -8.6 -2.8
Canada 8.7 -3.1 -10.0 0.4
France 5.0 -1.9 -7.6 -9.0
Germany -1.2 -2.7 — —
Ireland -1.1 -10.8 -17.4 —
Italy 3.1 -1.0 — —
Japan -1.1 -2.6 -3.3 —
Spain 2.6 -3.9 -7.4 -7.9
United Kingdom 8.8 -4.5 -15.6 -14.4
United States -5.0 -12.8 -14.0 -12.0
Source: Scotia Economics
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
E-mail, Share, PrintKamloops Market Is Still Hot!
Posted on October 13, 2009 at 12:44:00 PM by Audrey
The Kamloops Real Estate Market is busy with both Buyers and Sellers heating up the Kamloops Real Estate market. Kamloops houses, condos, foreclosures and townhouses are still affordable making Kamloops a desirable location to move.
Check back often for updates on the Kamloops Real Estate market including updated statistics on the Kamloops Real Estate market, Kamloops Homes sold & more stories about real estate.
B.C. Home Prices Expected to Rise
Posted on October 09, 2009 at 10:36:00 AM by Audrey
By Scott Simpson, Vancouver Sun
The recovery of British Columbia's residential housing market has raised expectations that home prices will continue to increase, a survey has found.
Ipsos Reid reported on Monday that 52 per cent of survey respondents, buoyed by a slowly improving economic outlook and "positive momentum" in home sales, are optimistic that the value of their homes will increase over the next 12 months -- compared with 20 per cent who expressed that sentiment last January.
Respondents expect prices will climb an average 4.8 per cent across the province -- including 5.6 per cent in the Lower Mainland and 3.6 per cent in the rest of B.C.
"This represents a major shift in consumer sentiment towards B.C.'s housing market, exuding significant optimism as we move closer to 2010," the market research and polling company said in a news release.
Citing figures obtained for a coming report on the B.C. residential real estate market, Ipsos Reid noted that early this year there was an expectation that prices would decline three per cent over 12 months.
Ipsos Reid also found home buyers are more confident about buying a home -- 76 per cent said it's a good time to buy a home compared with 71 per cent in January.
Home prices have begun to increase in B.C. after dropping in 2008 amid an international economic meltdown, and both prices and sales volumes have moved off their 2008 lows.
Last week, Scotia Economics suggested in a report that a "seller's market" emerged this summer for the first time since September 2008.
"The buying environment is still good, but the selling environment has also improved," Ipsos Reid senior research manager Hanson Lok said.
"British Columbians still feel that it's a really good time to buy. For sellers, we've seen the housing price index creeping up over the past six months."
The bullish outlook on prices is tempered somewhat by the harmonized sales tax (HST) which comes into effect July 1, 2010.
"The sentiment is that there will be an impact upon home buyers -- 40 per cent believe they will be impacted. Almost half say they will wait and see how it affects the market," Lok said.
"There is a sense that when it comes to new homes there is going to be a little bit of resistance to buying a new home because of the new tax. More people will consider resale homes instead.
Hot Housing Market Could Trigger Interest Rate Hikes, TD Bank Says
Posted on October 09, 2009 at 10:30:00 AM by Audrey
By Paul Vieira, Canwest News Service
The possibility exists that the Bank of Canada might raise its key interest rate before inflation hits its preferred target should the housing market continue its red-hot performance, economists at Toronto-Dominion Bank said Tuesday.
"The Bank of Canada will likely be watching developments in Canadian real estate quite closely," said economists Craig Alexander and Grant Bishop. "If surging existing home sales do not cool, the bank may be inclined to respond."
The Bank of Canada -- in its effort to revive the economy and bring inflation to the two per cent level -- made a conditional pledge to keep its policy rate at a historic low of 0.25 per cent until June 2010. The historically low policy rate has drawn buyers into the housing market, as there is the belief that this will be as good as it gets in terms of borrowing costs.
The TD prediction comes hours after Australia's central bank surprised markets and raised its benchmark rate by 25 basis points -- a sign it believes the economy is in recovery mode.
While raising rates might not be his preferred option, the TD report said Mark Carney, Bank of Canada governor, has hinted in recent remarks that he is prepared to "lean" against so-called prevailing wisdom when undertaking future decisions regarding monetary policy. That could mean, they suggest, raising rates even though inflation is not hovering near the central bank's two per cent target.
"The persistence of extremely low mortgage rates might induce more buyers into the market and speculation could take on a greater influence," Alexander and Bishop said. "In the wake of the recent financial turmoil and deep economic downturn arising from the bursting of the U.S. real estate bubble . . . many central bankers now believe that monetary policy needs to 'lean' against the development of asset price excesses by running a tighter monetary policy."
Canadian housing sales have surged in recent months. The Canadian Real Estate Association estimate of national homes sales was up 18.5 per cent year-over-year in August, and the average home price was reported to have increased 11.3 per cent over that time.
The TD economists said the real estate market is likely to moderate and home-price growth will not become excessive, as pent-up demand gets filled. However, they said there is a "material risk" real estate could continue its red-hot pace.
Kamloops Home Team Launches New Website!
Posted on October 08, 2009 at 08:13:00 PM by Audrey
Thank-you for visting www.kamloopshometeam.com We are proud to bring you the newest technology to help you in your buying or selling of Kamloops Real Estate. Kamloops Home Team is here to help every step of the way whether you are buying or selling a personal home in Kamloops or looking to buy or sell investments properties in Kamloops. Check back often for news and information about the current Kamloops real estate market.
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