Richmond housing market cooling off
June 26, 2010
Signs of Richmond housing market cooling
The increase in the list/sale ratio (months of inventory) is steady, but not alarming. The ratio climbed from 2.9 months inventory in January to 4.39 months of supply last month. Home decline in home prices are likely to be started by weak sellers are under pressure to sell. Until the list/sale ratio cross over to 6 months inventory, home prices may be maintained at current level. Currently, some sellers are adjusting to the slower market by reducing their selling prices. The selling pressure is not as great and urgent as seen in the spring of 2008. Read more
Selling a tenanted condo
June 11, 2010
Condo owners in a jam trying to sell their tenanted condos
Some condo sellers are in a jam trying to sell their tenanted properties. Increasingly, there are stories about tenants refusing entry for showings, threatening to sue, or insisting that they must be present and at their convenience before the homes can be shown.
Legally speaking, the tenants are obliged to co-operate when they have been given sufficient notice by the listing Realtors. Unfortunately, many tenants choose not to co-operate Read more
Home prices on the way down?
June 5, 2010
Thee are signs that the metro Vancouver housing market is cooling off with more supply and lesser sales.
Metro Vancouver real estate markets edged off their peaks in May with lower sales, more listings and prices flattening out after a record setting rebound, according to figures from the
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported on Friday, June 04, 2010 that May sales for Greater Vancouver was down 10% from a year ago.
There were 7,014 new listings added to the housing inventory in May, 48 per cent more than a year ago. Read more
Time to bail out of the housing market?
April 17, 2010
Garth Turner, author for The Greater Fool Blog commented on his blog “List this” dated April 15, 2010:
“In a single month almost 100,000 families decided it was high time to bail out of their houses, flooding the market across Canada with a sea of new listings”.”There’s now every reason to believe listings will continue to climb in all markets. As I have explained previously, people list when markets fall and sit on properties while they rise. Read more
Making Sense Of Canadian Real Estate Prices
April 4, 2010
Canadian real estate and money supply
Real estate as an asset class is subject to supply and demand like any other goods that are in demand by people. The historical prices for Vancouver real estate may have a close relationship with crude oil prices and the supply of money for Canada and the world (global supply).
The following table summarizes the prices for real estate, crude oil, gold and the supply of money as recorded for January of 1990, 2000 and 2010 - for a period of 20 years. Read more
BC Economy And Housing Growth Forecast
March 7, 2010
A five-year economic forecast by Chief Economist, Helmut Pastrick”, Central 1 Credit Union, covering 2010-14 pointed out that:
“B.C.’s economy is growing again with the help of record low interest rates and improvements in the world’s financial conditions, commodity markets and economy.”
“Faster growth after 2011 is centred in the domestic economy, and private investment in particular, assisted by more residential housing and consumer activity”. Read more
What’s next after the Olympics
February 26, 2010
Metro Vancouver housing market for 2010
February 25, 2010
Current metro Vancouver market activities
Lower construction costs from mid 2008 contributed to the developers’ ability to offer new homes at prices sometimes at a slight discount to comparable resale product in the area. The attractive pricing levels, and lack of competition in the market have all contributed to the rapid rate of sales during the second half of 2009.
Housing market for 2010 and beyond
The developers that have started construction in 2009 are experienced and well capitalized groups that can take advantage of current demand for new homes. Read more
Housing bubble talks
December 25, 2009
Is there a housing bubble in Canada?
The recent surge in property sales, fueled by rock-bottom mortgage rates, is encouraging Canadians to take on levels of debt that they won’t be able to maintain once rates rise.
In an exclusive interview with Canwest News Service and Global National, finance minister was quoted “Canada’s government will puncture any housing bubble“.
“The federal government is ready to clamp down further on mortgage rules if the boom in the Canadian housing market turns into a bubble, says Finance Minister Jim Flaherty”.
Canadian interest rates and housing prices
December 24, 2009
How interest rates affect home prices
Since the bursting of the “dot.com” bubble and the tragic event of “9/11″, the easing of interest rates in the US and Canada had resulted in easy credit and low mortgage rates. Home prices in metro Vancouver more than double in price from 2001 to today. The housing market bounced back and recovered from a a drop around 15% in late 2007. Home prices recovered all that was lost and buyers confidence returned to the market.
The ultra-low mortgage rates attracted many buyers who might not be able to handle much higher rates when their mortgages are due for renewal. Read more
