Vancouver Real Estate Blog

Vancouver Leads The Way In House Sales And Prices Rose A Staggering 18%.

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales in the province climbed 8%  compared to February of 2010.  The average MLS® residential price rose 18 per cent to $587,571 in February compared to the same month last year.

"The surge in consumer demand in Metro Vancouver continues to propel the provincial statistics higher,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “Elevated sales activity in Vancouver’s pricier communities has pushed average home prices higher than market conditions would suggest.” Compared to February 2010, the average MLS® residential price in Vancouver has climbed more than 19 per cent, whereas the Benchmark or typical home price has increased a more modest 4 per cent.

 "Believes that these increases are just a start of what is to become an upswing and he added value added pricing on the Westside. It would not surprise me to see residential Sale Prices move up into the 20% category or more. As long as we see a relative short supply of inventory in the detached market place, a large demand, we will see multiple offers and price inflation on homes" says Mitchell Mingie.

Living on the Westside as a Real Estate Agent with Re/Max Crest Realty(Westside), Mitchell Mingie see's a huge influx of Asian Buyers competing amongst themselves for the homes located in area's like Dunbar, Point Grey, Kerrisdale to name a few. 

For the complete news release, including detailed statistics, follow this link: www.bcrea.bc.ca/news_room/2011-02.pdf.

Multiple Offers Raising The Price of Homes On The Westside Of Vancouver

This modest home which I would categorize as a Post World War 2 home on a 52 x 130 lot in Dunbar took everyone by surprise. Listed at a price of $1,988,00 and sold 9 days later for a whopping $2,683,000 million. That's a $695,000 over asking.

So what's happening to our real estate and why such huge demands?? Well that's fairly easy to conclude. Supply and demand, to put it simply. But there is a lot more than just that. Housing inventories have come down over the last 7 months of last year. That's the first thing. The economy,  peoples attitude, being in Canada, living in Vancouver, Living on the Westside, interest rate are low, unemployment is down, the unrest in the Middle East, the safety of Canada, these are just a few of the many factors.

 Other factors that are keeping the Real Estate up is foreign investors. Population migration into Vancouver from all over the world and across Canada is adding pressure to what little available land we have. Vancouver is ideally situated with the Pacific Ocean to our West, United States Of America to our south and the mountains to our north. To the east we have the Fraser Valley which has large parcels of land designated as agricultural. So where does someone go? Well we are building up the mountains, yes most do not find that alternative very attractive, as you are living in the snow belt. As most residence say " it's nice to go up the mountain to see the snow and experience it, but it is nicer to come down and live in the balmy weather of the Vancouver West. 

Currently the volume of foreign investors are the ones pushing up the prices of the homes on the Westside and other parts of Vancouver.