News: Vancouver Real Estate Market

   For the fourth time in the past four years, the Federal Government has announced further action to restrict mortgage credit. The new measures include:

• The maximum amortization on a prime mortgage will be reduced from 30 to 25 years.
• Mortgage insurance will not be provided for properties valued over $1 million.
• Refinancing has been lowered from a maximum of 85% loan-to-value to a maximum of 80% loan-to-value.
• The maximum gross debt service (GDS) and total debt service (TDS) will be limited...

Greater Vancouver Real Estate Market Update June 2012

Vancouver, BC – June 6, 2012. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its 2012 Second Quarter Housing Forecast today.

BC Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales are forecast to edge down 2.2 per cent to 74,800 units this year, before increasing 4.9 per cent to 78,500 units in 2013. Since 2009, annual home sales in the province have hovered in the 74,000 to 78,000 unit range. A record 106,300 MLS® residential sales were recorded in 2005.

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   The number of properties listed for sale continued to increase in the Greater Vancouver housing market in May. The number of sales decreased year over year, but remained relatively constant compared to recent months.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 2,853 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in May 2012. This represents a 15.5 per cent decline compared to the 3,377 sales recorded in...