News: Vancouver Real Estate Market

   As was universally anticipated, the Bank of Canada opted to hold its target overnight rate at 1 per cent this morning.  Ongoing uncertainty in the Euro-zone continues to weigh heavily on the Bank's outlook. In its statement accompanying the interest rate decision, it was noted that the bank is now projecting a contained Euro-crisis, but also a brief recession in the Euro-area due to ongoing deleveraging and fiscal austerity. The Bank also expects continued weakness, but no recession,...

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation defended its methodology of evaluating properties on Thursday, after a newspaper report questioned whether the practice has led to artificially inflated home prices.

"CMHC looks at the specific characteristics of the property in question," the federal agency said in a statement Thursday.

The CMHC, which is tasked with overseeing Canada's housing market, said it uses different sources of information to assess the value of a specific property.

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   Canadian housing starts in increased in September, climbing to 7 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 205,900 units. New home construction in BC also increased, rising 18.5 per cent from last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 27,400 units.  Total third quarter housing starts in BC were 6,844 compared with 6,316 starts in the third quarter of last year. New home construction continues to be centered around multi-family units which accounted for...

   Softening seen in some regions but suggestions of impending US-style correction unfounded, according to Royal LePage

The Royal LePage House Price Survey released today showed the average price of a home in Canada increased between 5.7 and 7.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2011, compared to the previous year. The strength of home price appreciation in the third quarter defied expectations as very low interest rates buoyed consumer confidence in a comparatively stable Canadian...

Consistent increases in property listings and fewer home sales over the summer months has helped move the Greater Vancouver housing market into the upper end of a buyers’ market.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales of detached, attached and apartment properties on the region’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) reached 2,246 in September, a 1.2 per cent increase compared to the 2,220 sales in September 2010. Those sales also...