Residential home sales in Greater Vancouver ended the year by making a surprising downward move in December 2011. Monthly residential home sales across the region plunged to a level not seen in over 2 years. In fact, you would have to go back to February 2009 to find a lower monthly sales figure.
In their press release, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reported that residential MLS home sales dropped by -29.7% in December 2011 to 1,658 sales compared to the 2,360 sales recorded in November 2011.
The 1,658 recorded MLS home sales in Greater Vancouver for December 2011 represent the lowest level of sales activity the region has seen in 34 months since February 2009 when there were 1,480 total residential homes sold on the regions MLS system.
Last months (December 2011) Greater Vancouver home sales figure of 1,658 residential units sold, was down by -12.7% from a year ago when there were 1,899 sales in December 2010 and down by -34.1% from two years ago when there were 2,515 sales in December 2009.
Rosario Setticasi, REBGV president, summed up 2011 as follows, “It was a relatively balanced year for the real estate market in Greater Vancouver with listing totals slightly above historical norms and sale numbers slightly below.”
Greater Vancouver Real Estate – REBGV December 2011 home sales down -29.7% (-702 units) to 1,658 total units. Lowest Monthly MLS Sales Figure in Over 2 Years.
New MLS listings in the Greater Vancouver region decreased dramatically by -49.4% in December 2011 with 1,629 detached, attached and apartment properties newly listed, down from 3,222 units in November 2011 and down by -62.8% from 4,374 units in October 2011.
Compared to last year, this December’s property listings represented a -4.1% decline from the 1,699 figure in December 2010.
For all of 2011, new residential home listings in Greater Vancouver from January to December have totaled 59,539 new listings in 2011, which is a +2.7% increase from the 58,009 new listings over the same period in 2010 and a +12.8% increase over the 52,869 residential properties listed in 2009.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) serves the following British Columbia communities:
- Burnaby
- Coquitlam
- Delta
- Gulf Islands
- Maple Ridge
- Pitt Meadows
- New Westminster
- North Vancouver
- Port Coquitlam
- Port Moody
- Belcarra
- Richmond
- Squamish
- Sunshine Coast
- Vancouver
- West Vancouver
- Howe Sound
- Whistler
- Pemberton
The following table shows the actual Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) total MLS residential sales figures for each month in 2010 along with the 2011 sales figures.
2010-2011 REBGV – Total MLS Residential Sales for Greater Vancouver:
| January | 1923 | -23.5% |
| February | 2473 | +28.6% |
| March | 3137 | +26.8% |
| April | 3512 | +12.0% |
| May | 3156 | -10.1% |
| June | 2972 | -5.8% |
| July | 2255 | -24.1% |
| August | 2202 | -2.4% |
| September | 2220 | +0.8% |
| October | 2337 | +5.3% |
| November | 2509 | +7.4% |
| December | 1899 | -24.3% |
| January | 1819 | -4.2% |
| February | 3097 | +70.3% |
| March | 4080 | +31.7% |
| April | 3225 | -21.0% |
| May | 3377 | +4.7% |
| June | 3262 | -3.4% |
| July | 2571 | -21.2% |
| August | 2378 | -7.5% |
| September | 2246 | -5.6% |
| October | 2317 | +3.2% |
| November | 2360 | +1.9% |
| December | 1658 | -29.7% |
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver residential average home sale price for December 2011 was $1,064,249 for detached properties, $511,948 for attached properties and $443,652 for apartment properties.
November 2011 figures were $1,134,936 for detached properties in Greater Vancouver, $565,168 for attached properties and $431,808 for apartment properties.
October 2011 figures were $1,162,349 for detached properties in Greater Vancouver, $571,425 for attached properties and $446,296 for apartment properties.
September 2011 figures were $1,104,896 for detached properties in Greater Vancouver, $573,259 for attached properties and $455,342 for apartment properties.
The overall benchmark price for a typical residential home across the Greater Vancouver region dropped slightly to $621,674 in December 2011 from $622,087 in November 2011.
Over the past 12 months, the REBGV MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price reveals that the price for all residential properties in the Greater Vancouver region has increased by an average of +7.6% to $621,674 in December 2011 from $577,808 a year ago in December 2010.
The REBGV Housing Price Index benchmark prices are a more accurate and reliable indicator of housing prices in Greater Vancouver compared to looking at average prices.
In their January 4, 2012 news release, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver stated:
Sales of detached properties in December 2011 reached 630, a decrease of 18.1 per cent from the 769 detached sales re- corded in December 2010, and a 30.2 per cent decrease from the 902 units sold in December 2009. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 11.2 per cent from December 2010 to $887,471.
Sales of apartment properties reached 774 in December 2011, a decline of 4.6 per cent compared to the 811 sales in December 2010, and a decrease of 32.9 per cent compared to the 1,154 sales in December 2009.The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 3.7 per cent from December 2010 to $401,396.
Attached property sales in December 2011 totaled 254, a decline of 20.4 per cent compared to the 319 sales in December 2010, and a 44.7 per cent decrease from the 459 attached properties sold in December 2009. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 4.2 per cent between December 2010 and 2011 to $511,499.
The REBGV stated that a “balanced real estate market prevailed through much of 2011” in the Greater Vancouver region.
Rosario Setticasi, REBGV president added that, “Our market remained in a balanced state for most of the year, although higher levels of demand for detached properties in the region’s largest communities caused prices in certain areas to rise higher than others.”
