News: Vancouver Real Estate Market

   The Canadian economy got off to a slow start to begin 2012, failing to build on momentum from December. January Gross Domestic Product grew just 0.1 per cent, after posting robust 0.5 per cent growth in the final month 2011. Economic growth in January was given a boost by manufacturing output which rose for the fifth consecutive month, but was dragged lower by declining oil and gas extraction. On a year-over-year basis, real GDP growth was 1.7 per cent in January.

The Canadian...

“What’s really interesting is how definitive it’s become,” said Ian Martin, general manager of REW.ca, the online real estate search site that commissioned the survey. “It’s polarized. Split right down the middle.”

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US housing starts declined slightly in February, though January new construction was revised higher. Total housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate(SAAR) of 698,000 last month, down 1 per cent from 706,000 (SAAR) in January. Building permits, an indicator of future home construction, were 717,000 (SAAR) in February, a 5 per cent increase from January and 3 per cent higher than February 2011.

While this morning's report is not overly positive, it does reinforce that the housing...

Vancouver, BC – March 15, 2012. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that the dollar volume of homes sold through Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in BC declined 9.6 per cent to $3.4 billion in February compared to the same month last year. A total of 5,923 MLS® residential unit sales were recorded over the same period, a decline of 7.6 per cent. The average MLS® residential price was $574,975 in February, 2.1 per cent lower than in February 2011.

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   The Bank of Canada left its overnight rate unchanged at 1 per cent for the twelfth consecutive meeting. In the statement accompanying the decision the Bank noted that while heightened uncertainty in the global economy has decreased in recent weeks, global economic growth is likely to remain below trend. The Bank also noted that it expects Canadian households to add to their debt burden in 2012, which in the Bank's judgement is the biggest domestic risk to the Canadian economy. Finally,...

   Below is a break down of the current Average Days on the Market (ADOM) and Average Price Per Square Foot for Apartments in and around Downtown Vancouver.

• Coal Harbour - AP/SQFT is $851/sqft with an ADOM of 40 days.
• Yaletown - AP/SQFT is $742/sqft with an ADOM of 44 days.
• Westend - AP/SQFT is $672/sqft with an ADOM of 40 days.
• Downtown - AP/SQFT is $660/sqft with an ADOM of 49 days.
• Falsecreek - AP/SQFT is $606/sqft with an ADOM of 47 days.

   Modest Improvements at the End of 2011 Lighten the Load on Household Budgets

TORONTO, March 7, 2012— Canada's housing market made further steps on a promising path in the closing months of 2011 as affordability improved for the second consecutive quarter, according to the latest Housing Trends and Affordability Report released today by RBC Economics Research. Canadian homebuyers benefited from softer home prices and income gains that helped lighten the load on their budgets...

   Closer alignment between home buyer and seller activity helped bring greater balance to the Greater Vancouver housing market in February.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 2,545 on the MLS® system in February 2012. This represents a 61.4 per cent increase compared to the 1,577 sales recorded in January 2012, a decline of 17.8 per cent compared to the 3,097 sales in February 2011 and a 2.9...

   The Canadian economy grew 0.4 per cent in December and 1.8 per cent at a seasonally adjusted annual rate for the fourth quarter, close to BCREA’s forecast of 1.9 per cent and a marked decline from a 4.2 per cent rate of growth in the third quarter. Grwoth in Real GDP for 2011 was 2.5 per cent, a decline from 3.2 per cent growth in 2011. Significant uncertainty looms over the Canadian economy in 2012 from a yet unsettled Euro-debt crisis an improving but still sluggish US economy,...