Shuswap January sale activity compared to Vancouver and Fraser Valley

According to Okanangan Mainline Real Estate Board, Shuswap area January 2007 residential sales were less than same month in 2006; 66 and 76 respectively, an approximate 3% decrease.

SHUSWAP area
January 2006 Average (Median) prices versus January 2007:
% of Average price gain or decrease

LOTS & ACREAGES
$110,107 ($91,000) vs $117,911 ($91,500)
+7%

MOBILE HOMES
$58,557 ($52,000) vs $67,666 ($38,750)
+15.5%

SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL
$321,072 ($247,500) vs $418,068 ($331,250)
+30%

STRATA
$278,300 ($233,250) vs $248,190 ($256,500)
-11%

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The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported Friday that home sales were slightly slower in January than in the same month last year, with just 1,806 units sold, a decrease of 6.1 per cent.

Prices, however, kept rolling up, with the benchmark price for detached homes up 9.9 per cent, to $644,316, over the year while townhouses and condominiums saw double-digit increases.

The benchmark price for a townhouse in the board's region was up 15.5 per cent, to $410,628, and condominium prices were up 15.3 per cent, to $332,000.

The benchmark price reflects the market price for a home typical of the area.

But an increase in the inventory of homes for sale offers hope for those struggling to catch up to the runaway prices of last year.

New listings for all categories of residential properties increased by 17.2 per cent to 4,067 units, compared to 3,471 in January 2006. The total number of active listings increased by 30.1 per cent to 9,312 units.

"We're currently seeing double-digit increases in both our new and carried-over listings inventory, a continuation of a trend started last September," REBGV president Rick Valouche said in a news release.

"This may be one of the factors currently relieving the pressure we saw on home prices throughout 2006, which are increasing at a slightly lower rate than they were a year ago at this time."

New listings were also up in the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board's region. That board reported Friday that new listings in January increased by 14 per cent compared to January 2006.

That brought the total inventory in the Fraser Valley to 6,099, an increase of 29 per cent over last year.

But Fraser Valley board sales in January amounted to just 1,001, a decrease of 14 per cent compared to the same month last year when 1,165 sales were recorded.

The Fraser Valley board recorded year-over-year price increases proportionately higher than in Greater Vancouver for each category.

The average price of a detached house was up 11 per cent from January 2006, to $494,177 from $444,771.

Owners of townhouses fared even better. Their average price increased 16.2 per cent, to $302,591. In January 2006 that price was $260,445.

Condo owners in the Fraser Valley board's region may have been the biggest winners, though. The average apartment price went up 18 per cent in one year, from January 2006's average of $169,473, to $199,995 in 2007.

UP IN THE VALLEY

Owners in the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board's region saw the average prices of their homes rise significantly from January 2006 to January 2007, but condo owners fared the best.

Detached homes: +11%

Townhouses: +16.2%

Condos: +18%

Source: Fraser Valley Real Estate Board