Real estate activity, Salmon Arm, Shuswap area in contrast to Greater Vancouver

Each month of this year Salmon Arm, Shuswap area has experienced an increase in new single family residential listings with "significant" sale reduction each month compared to same period last year. However, Greater Vancouver area residential sales has dropped "slightly".


Here is an artilce in todays Vancouver Sun....

An influx of new listings entered the Greater Vancouver housing market in April 2008, while residential sales reduced slightly compared to the same period a year ago.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 3,218 in April 2008, a decline of five per cent from the 3,387 sales recorded in April 2007, and a 3.8 per cent drop from the 3,345 sales in April 2006.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties increased 25.6 per cent to 7,010 in April 2008 compared to April 2007, when 5,580 new units were listed.

"Residential sales continue to be strong, but there is a lot more choice on the market today. This is good news for a market that has been defined by record-breaking activity for most of this decade," said REBGV president, Dave Watt.

"Despite this seeming re-balance between sales and listings, it took, on average, six fewer days to sell a home in Greater Vancouver compared to the previous year, with a days on market average of 33 in April this year," said Watt.

Sales of detached properties declined 7.8 per cent to 1,293 from the 1,403 detached sales recorded during the same period in 2007. The benchmark price, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, for detached properties rose 11 per cent from April 2007 to $771,321. Sales of apartment properties in April 2008 declined 2.4 per cent to 1,317, compared to 1,350 sales in April 2007. The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 9.6 per cent from April 2007 to $389,070. Attached property sales in April 2008 are down 4.1 per cent to 608, compared with the 634 sales in April 2007. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 10.5 per cent between April 2007 and 2008 to $477,900."

Bright spots in Greater Vancouver in April 2008 compared to April 2007:

ATTACHED:

SQUAMISH +84.6 per cent (24 units sold from 13)
VANCOUVER EAST +50 per cent (51 units sold from 34)
SUNSHINE COAST +57.1 per cent (18 units sold from 7)

APARTMENTS:

MAPLE RIDGE/PITT MEADOWS +2.3 per cent (41 units sold from 31)
NEW WESTMINSTER +33.8 per cent (95 units sold up from 71)
PORT MOODY/BELCARRA +23.7 per cent (47 units sold up from 38)
RICHMOND +7.8 per cent (179 units sold from 166)

(Source: Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver)