Real Estate Sales Drop, But Still Steady for Vancouver in June 2010

The Vancouver area saw a housing sales drop of 5.8% in June 2010 compared to May 2010, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

For June 2010, there were 2,972 sales, representing roughly a 30% decline against last years June 2009’s 4,259 sales figures. However this was a 22.6% increase over the 2,525 sales recorded in June 2008. The figure from last year was actually the second highest selling June on record.

Jake Moldowan, President of Greater Vancouver’s Real Estate Board, says that the “number of new listings coming on the market is not as dramatic” as three months prior to June 2010, but “demand remains at a healthy level for this traditionally quieter time of the year,” as the summer of 2010 has been hampered by the HST.

A total of 5,544 new listings of detached, attached, and apartments properties were added to the MLS system in June 2010. This was a 21% decline compared to May 2010, which saw 7,014 listings and a 3.2% increase over June 2009, which saw 5,372 listings added.

Moldowan added that, “there has been less upward pressure on prices in our market the last few months, which has allowed prices to ease back from the record high numbers seen in April,” following the Olympics.

With the trend of high sales over the last few months following the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, it seemed natural for June to be another high month. However, with any hot market, there comes a cooling off period and that time has now approached.

A Real Estate Board of Great Vancouver July 6, 2010 press release further states that:

Over the last 12 months, the overall MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver increased 11.8 per cent to $580,237 from $518,855 in June 2009.

Sales of detached properties in June 2010 reached 1,139, a decrease of 31.7 per cent from the 1,667 detached sales recorded in June 2009 and a 24.1 per cent increase from the 918 units sold in June 2008. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 13.4 per cent from June 2009 to $795,025.

Sales of apartment properties reached 1,258 in June 2010, a decline of 29.7 per cent compared to the 1,790 sales in June 2009 and an increase of 19 per cent compared to the 1,057 sales in June 2008.The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 9.7 per cent from June 2009 to $391,528.

Attached property sales in June 2010 totalled 575, a decline of 28.3 per cent compared to the 802 sales in June 2009 and a 27.8 per cent increase from the 450 attached properties sold in June 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 11.6 per cent between June 2009 and 2010 to $492,861.

One of the factors the housing market had to contend with in June this year, was the fear and confusion over the new HST tax that was coming to British Columbia on July 1, 2010. This no doubt led to some people either accelerating or putting off their buying or selling decisions.

Now that the HST has officially been implemented, BC residents are beginning to learn the impact and effect of the HST. For an exclusive BuyRIC.com list of what goods and services apply under the new HST tax, click here.