The Inside Scoop....

Well, here’s some news.  A townhouse in Kerrisdale has been reported sold this week at $23,000 over the list price!  The number of sales reported this week are up by 28% over last week, and the number of new listings this week are down by 31% compared to last week.  Inventory in detached houses remains fairly stable, with few new listings coming onto the market.  If you are looking for a house West of Granville, there are only 42 listings under $1,000,000.  There are currently 698 detache ... Full Article...

Those of us in touch with buyers and sellers on a daily basis get a visceral sense when things are about to change.  In the past week, I have noticed that internet traffic on the Board’s public advertising site is up significantly.  Phone calls and showing requests are up.  I had a very busy Open House on the weekend - much busier than in previous months.  In discussion with colleagues, I am hearing that several properties in the $300,000 range and $500,000 range have offers on them.  One ... Full Article...

Over the past week, we saw a rise in listing inventory on the Westside to 2,217, with 264 new listings added to the market.  It is important to note, however, that 92 of those listings are priced at over $1 million, and only 52 of those listings are priced under $400,000.  We have seen a significant number of properties listed in newly constructed developments in the downtown core over the past week.  There were 106 price adjustments in the past week, with only modest adjustments in the lower e ... Full Article...

There were 40 reported sales in the Westside over the past week.  It is important to note that many of these sales took place in the latter part of December and early January, over the holiday period, and during a period of the worst snow accumulation I can remember in Vancouver (and we Vancouverites don’t do snow!).  We saw an increase in the total Westside inventory (since January 1st) of 8%, up to 2,787.  A good number of these new listings are in projects that are under construction, ... Full Article...

We started off 2009 with 2,571 listings on the Westside.  In the past 13 days, 314 new listings were reported, along with 53 sales.  However, the overall inventory count remains largely unchanged, at 2,706.  With new listings, or relisted properties coming back to market, other properties are still being withdrawn.  The mood among my piers remains optimistic that this is still a great time to buy.  We are seeing some amazing deals right now.  For example, a recently renovated house on a 50&rsqu ... Full Article...

The latest Housing Price Index has just been released by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.  Here’s the results for the Westside residential market: Type Benchmark Price 1 Yr. Change 5 Yr. Change Detached $ 1,165,007 16.6% down 64.0% up Attached $ 609,623 12.6% down 68.5% up Apartment $ 424,509 11.6% down 54.0% up

While it is quite normal for many listings to expire or terminate at month end/year end, it was quite shocking to see an OVERNIGHT decline in the total number of listings on the Westside by 21%!  That is down 35% since October 31st.  The overnight decline in Detached is 21%, and Attached is down by 18%.  Since October 31st, this represents a reduction of 41% in the number of houses for sale, and a 33% reduction in the number of condos and townhomes for sale, which is quite significant.  This me ... Full Article...