Market Update

October 2011

I have been eagerly awaiting this month's statistics to see what sort of bounce back, if any, we would see after the slower Summer season. The answer, somewhat surprisingly, is that the we didn't seen any bounce back in sales activity at all - in any of the neighbourhoods we look at. The degree of sales drop varies quite a bit, with more than 30% drops in sales activity in the Downtown, Vancouver Westside attached and detached, and North Vancouver attached markets compared to just 6.7% in the Vancouver East attached market and 16.6% in the Vancouver East detached market. Interestingly enough, this decreased sales activity has not really impacted sales prices as both the average and median prices in most markets held relatively stable. We have also not seen a dramatic spike in listing inventories. Should listing inventory start to rise in October, we may be looking at some minor slips on the pricing side. It is my belief, however, that the commitment to hold interest rates until 2013, in conjunction with positive employment and immigration numbers, should keep prices steady through to next year.

One market to keep an eye on is the Vancouver Westside detached market. It is the one market that showed a large increase in active listings (up 22%) as well as a large drop off in sales activity (down 33%) and median sale price (down 6.3%). As a market that has experienced tremendous gains in median pricing over the past year, it seems the table may finally see an adjustment. I would speculate that the rapid rise in listings is stemming from those 'testing' the market as they see their neighbours sell far above what market conditions would have allowed for last year. As prices slip, we may see many of these listings simply get pulled off the market. If not, look for further drops here.

Rob

Vancouver Special Blog

Rain Screening

Now that we've finished with the installation of the Tyvek (waterproofing) and strapping, we were ready to start with the siding. There are a number of different types of metal siding to go with, but which one would look best? In this case, we decided to go with a wider offset, just to make sure that the front didn't look too busy....

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Market Update

August 2011

As the dog days of summer, along with some long overdue sunshine, kick into full gear, let's take a look at the July numbers. As would be expected going into the Summer months, sales activity has dropped substantially with declines from 14% to a whopping 50%. Detached homes in Vancouver Westside and North Vancouver, as well as North Vancouver condos were the hardest hit here. We are also seeing active listings creep up slightly, but nothing more than a few percent in any area. Prices mostly slipped across the board, with two notable exceptions: Detached homes in Vancouver Westside fell 10%, which would appear to be a natural correction after a ridiculous run of rising prices, while the average price Downtown surprisingly climbed by 19%. This is mainly attributable to a few ultra high-end sales and, when digging deeper, the median price Downtown actually dipped last month.

Looking into August, don't expect much to change. The real question remains what happens in September. This is a month where we typically see an upswing in activity, but it will be curious to see how all this bad press regarding the international markets plays out. I suspect we will remain relatively stable through the end of the year, but I will re-evaluate that statement as things unfold.

Enjoy the rest of Summer!

Rob

Unique Homes Blog

This house was designed for comfortable everyday living with a focus on sustanability. While simple in form the exterior utilizes a variety of low maintainence materials. The interior is organized around a large open entertaining area, which includes the kitchen, dinning room, and living room...

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Market Update

July 2011

With the summer market in full swing, it appears we are still waiting for the summer weather to catch up. As expected, it is much more of the same this month compared to last. Sales are down across the board, with the exception of the North Vancouver attached market which appears to be bucking the trend. Expect that to correct next month. Average sale prices and active listings are fluctuating across the board, but prices in most markets slipped slightly without enough dip to cause alarm. Everything we are seeing is typical for the seasonal nature of the Vancouver market and I expect to see a continuation of these trends for the next two months before an upturn in September.

Looking at the bigger picture, predicting the local market is beginning to require more and more knowledge of international financial markets. Using local trends to predict the market has quickly become a fool's game and many more factors must be taken in to account. We will have to keep an eye on foreign markets in the coming months, as they will likely play a larger role in the Vancouver market moving forward than rising mortgage rates will.

Any questions, ask away. And enjoy the summer!

Rob

Unique Homes Blog

Plastolux has gathered 20 modern kitchens from their past blog post.They posed an interesting question, "Let me ask you this, what one element of a kitchen from the flooring to the cabinets or even the appliances can make or break a modern kitchen for you?" - What do you think?

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Market Update

June 2011

Well, I was hoping we would be Stanley Cup champions by the time I sat down to write this month's newsletter, but I will certainly settle for the fact that we are still in the running! In fact, I think the Canucks playoff run added some much needed positivity to the city considering the awful run of weather we had through April and May. Let's hope the beautiful sunshine we've had to start June sticks around for awhile.

Now, on to the real estate market.... As discussed last month, the trend of decreasing sales volume continued through May with declines from 5% to 40%. It does appear that the early start to this year's Spring market has resulted in an early start to the Summer slowdown as well, which we now appear to be fully entrenched in. That said, the decreasing sales volume appears to be the only trend that is consistent across all market, so this month let's take a look at the individual markets a little more closely.

The Vancouver West detached market finally showed some signs of slowing of its torrid run to start the year. Sales dropped 17.1% while prices fell 8.7%, with active inventory remaining flat. The absorption rate remains high and the market here is still strong, but I expect to see further declines in this market moving forward. In the Vancouver West attached market, sales volume dropped a more dramatic 36.7% with prices slipping 9% and inventory climbing 6.7%. The declining sales here is not entirely unpredictable given the seasonality of the market, though the degree of the decline is more than expected. I suspect we may see a mild rebound in June and July.

The detached Vancouver East market showed the most resiliency this past month with sales slipping a mere 4.8% and prices down just 1.8%. Inventory actually dropped here as well, down 4.3%. Given the current disparity in prices between East and West, I believe this market will remain strong throughout the year. The Vancouver East attached market shows more similarity to its West side counterpart, with sales down 31%. This market, however, also shows inventory dropping 7.7% and prices that have actually climbed 2.4%. I would venture to guess that we will see these prices follow the downward trend next month.

Downtown, we saw a price rebound of 4.7% this month, after a significant drop last month, in spite of sales being down over 34%. Listing inventory remained flat, with less than a 1% change, so look for this market to remain stable over the Summer.

Taking a look at North Vancouver now, we see trends similar to the East side. The detached market showed modest declines in sales (10.7%) and prices (3.6%), but also displaying a dip in inventory of 4.1%. The attached market here took the hardest hit volume wise, with a 41.6% drop in sales and 7.6% increase in listing activity, but also saw prices climb 8.7% to an average $526,753. As with the East side market, look for those prices to slip downwards over the summer as well.

Much of the activity in the market right now can be attributed to seasonal factors, as the trends do follow in line with what we would expect historically. The exact timing this year has been moved up 4-6 weeks, but the general movement and scale of things falls within the expected range. Overall, homes that are priced well are still selling quickly and Buyers are seeing a little more selection than the beginning of the year presented. Enjoy the start of the Summer and let me know if you have any questions!

Rob

Market Update

May 2011

With the cherry blossoms in full bloom, we enter into what could be a surprising May in the Vancouver real estate market. Typically a peak time for sales activity, the April market stats show sales activity dropping in virtually all categories (excluding North Vancouver Detached). Will May continue this trend? If so, and I suspect it will, it appears the 'summer slowdown' that we typically see towards the middle of June has started early this year. There are a few possible explanations for this, but the biggest factor in my mind is the surge in activity we saw in February and March due to buyers rushing to purchase to beat the new mortgage rules that came into effect March 18, 2011. That surge effectively started the Spring market earlier than expected this year, so perhaps it is only natural that the activity tails off sooner as well.

Two other trends to take note of from last month:

(1) Listing inventory climbed, up as much as 23%, in all markets. The number of new listings was not dramatically higher the months previous, but as sales activity slows, the active inventory grows.

(2) Sales prices climbed in all markets, with the exception of downtown (which dipped almost 9%). The red hot Westside detached market led the charge here with a 9.5% increase over last month, while most other markets showed much more marginal increases.

Look for prices to flatten out over the summer, while activity slows slightly but remains stable. All in all, if we ignore the Westside detached category, we are enjoying a pleasantly balanced market. And, with any luck, by the time I sit down to write next month's newsletter, the Canucks will be Stanley Cup champions!

Cheers,

Rob

SPLIT House by SuperkÜl Architects

Superkül Architects have designed the SPLIT House in Toronto, Canada. Source: Contemporist

Description from the architects:

Split in plan and section, the parti of the house allows for a flood of light to the centre. The house is designed as space for spectacle - the owners are regular hosts of their large network of friends and family, and they wanted a place that could feel grand. The trick with this was to make a house that could also feel intimate for when they were on their own. Read more See all Blog Posts

Market Update

April 2011

Spring is here! Or maybe it's not... Depends on the day, but when the sun it out, it sure feels like it is close! Hopefully you are dusting off the patio furniture and planning some long weekend getaways as the calendar hits April.

March was an interesting month in the Vancouver market, as we saw changes in mortgage rules mid-month that reduced the maximum mortgage amortization period from 35 years to 30 years and requires investors to put a minimum of 20% down on purchases. These changes created a big push early in the month to get deals done before the new rules took effect and caused things to slow down towards the end of March. It will be interesting to see if things pick right back up in April, as it is typically a busy buying season, or market activity remains relatively flat.

Compared to February, March continued to show increases in new listings and sales activity across the board. Sale prices also creeped upwards in most areas, with the exception of the inflated Vancouver Westside detached market and the slightly cooling North Van detached market. I suspect both areas will level off this month after the correction.

At this point, it appears that the relatively stable market that we have enjoyed all year will continue into the Summer.

Rob

Vancouver Special Renovation Blog

We're finally coming down the home stretch with this reno.

The solid bamboo floors were totally different from what we ordered, but they still worked with the space, so we went ahead with them anyways. I really wanted to do what we could to dampen the noise for our tenants downstairs, so we installed high density rubber padding underneath the hardwood, then nailed through everything at once. In the bathrooms, we installed NuHeat heated floors, and some really nice striated porcelain tile. Thank god we went with NuHeat, our master is over part of the garage, and it is ice cold when the floor is turned off. One thing that I will do differently next time, is to pay more attention to the bathroom fixtures and cabinets that we go with. Read more See all Blog Posts