I am bit late getting these out, but here they are nonetheless. Last Friday the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) released the April statistics and earlier this week Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp (CMHC) released Vancouver's April housing starts.

As has been widely reported in the media around the blogosphere listings are up and sales are down in Metro Vancouver leading to softer prices. In some area this might even be resulting in prices falling while other areas are holding strong.

The REBGV News Release is attached below.

As for the April housing starts in Vancouver they bucked the resale trend and were up over last year. You can find that report here.

Matthew Collinge: Vancouver REALTOR®

Linda Leatherdale, money editor of The Toronto Sun and host of MONEY LINE on Rogers Television, Lisa da Rocha, vice president, marketing and communications, Royal LePage Real Estate Services, and David Cravit, senior vice president, marketing, The 50Plus Group, discuss how the 50-plus demographic is affecting the Canadian housing market and economic landscape.

You can listen to it here, or if you are reading this in feed reader you may have a play button right underneath this.

Matthew Collinge: Vancouver REALTOR®

Hello again! I've been on holiday and also just been a bit lazy with the blog lately. I am trying to get back on the ball, as it were. Today the British Columbia Real Estate Association released their Spring 2008 Housing Forecast. I also heard BCREA economsit Cameron Muir on CBC radio this morning discussing the BC real estate market.

The story is no suprise to anyone who has been following the real estate news lately. Supply is up, sales are down, yet prices mysteriously still up. If the other two factors remain the same prices are bound to swing down as well. Cameron has this to say:

“Most housing markets in the province are exhibiting balance between demand and supply,” added Muir. Home sales were down 14 per cent in the first quarter of 2008, while active listings were up 24 per cent. “More balance between demand and supply means less upward pressure on home prices. It also reduces the chance of multiple bids on the same home, giving homebuyers more time to investigate properties thoroughly before purchasing.” 

 Mr. Muir does believe that economic factors are playing a part in this change:

“Some weakness on the export side of the economy and eroding affordability will have an impact on housing demand over the next two years,”

and

“While a weak US economy is negatively impacting the forest industry and tourism, the BC economy is forecast to grow 2.5 per cent this year and 2.7 per cent in 2009, a higher rate of growth than most other provinces. Consumer spending, employment growth and net migration in the province are expected to remain robust and will continue to underpin housing demand through 2009,”

Generally it looks like they are predicting a 5-10% price increases this year, depending on the area of course, with 4-5 next year and maybe even less the next year.
 

Matthew Collinge: Vancouver REALTOR®

Well, that's nothing new. Vancouver real estate is in the news almost everyday.

The Vancouver Sun online has a story today titled 15 Real Estate Myths & Realities: The List. The article also includes the transcript of an interview by Christy Clark with Landcor Data Corp. founder Rudy Nielsen. The actual print article will appear in The Province tomorrow. Some of my favourites myths from the article are:

2. My home's assessment tells me what the property is worth. 

3. Real estate prices in Greater Vancouver can't keep going up, they're too high already.

8. A house with a south-facing backyard is likelier to appreciate more than the equivalent house facing the other way. 

12. Buying an additional property to rent out is a solid investment.

13. A home that has been staged using professional design principles to make it more appealing to buyers sells and for more.

I don't have too much to say about their answers to these myths. They seem pretty on the ball with their answers. Which is not too surprising given the experts that they consulted with (such as Rudy Nielsen, Cameron Muir, and Jennifer Podmore Russell among others).

You can see the whole list of Vancouver real estate myths here.

Listen to the interview with Nielsen here.

And see a PDF of the myths here with charts and graphs.

Matthew Collinge: Vancouver REALTOR®

So I had to get a new camera and I've been inspired to take from flower shots over the past week or two. So I hope you enjoy some of the loeverly flowers that are in bloom around Vancouver these days.

Tulip

Patch of white flowers

And finally the blossoms are out.

Matthew Collinge: Vancouver REALTOR®