Posted by admin on August 11, 2011 | Comments Off
Vancouver, BC – August 11, 2011. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential unit sales in the province rose 12.9 per cent to 6,533 units in July compared to the same month last year. The average MLS® residential price climbed 10 per cent to $540,877 last month compared to July 2010.
“BC home sales edged down 4 per cent from June to July, on a seasonally adjusted basis,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “Less frenetic buying activity in Vancouver operated to pull total provincial sales lower.”
“The silver lining in the recent global economic uncertainty is that mortgage rates have the potential to reach record lows in the coming weeks as investors flock into bond markets,” added Muir. “The increased affordability and added purchasing power from lower mortgage rates will help bolster housing demand.”
Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume increased 16.5 per cent to $28.2 billion, compared to the same period last year. Residential unit sales increased 1 per cent to 48,628 units, while the average MLS® residential price rose 15.3 per cent to $579,645 over the same period.
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For more information, please contact:
BCREA represents 11 member real estate boards and their approximately 18,000 REALTORS® on all provincial issues, providing an extensive communications network, standard forms, economic research and analysis, government relations, applied practice courses and continuing professional education (cpe).
To demonstrate the profession’s commitment to improving Quality of Lifein BC communities, BCREA supports policies that encourage economic vitality, provide housing opportunities, respect the environment and build communities with good schools and safe neighbourhoods.
For detailed statistical information, contact your local real estate board. MLS® is a cooperative marketing system used only by Canada’s real estate boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.
Posted by admin on July 14, 2011 | Comments Off
Vancouver, BC – July 14, 2011. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential unit sales in the province rose 2.4 per cent to 7,904 units in June compared to the same month last year. The average MLS® residential price climbed 14.4 per cent to $571,837 last month compared to June 2010.
“Home sales were relatively unchanged in June compared to last year,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “However, low mortgage interest rates and an overdue pick-up in BC employment growth are expected to provide some incentive to consumers over the summer months.”
Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume increased 15.5 per cent to $24.7 billion, compared to the same period last year. Residential unit sales are essentially unchanged compared to the halfway point of 2010 at 42,095 units, while the average MLS® residential price rose 16.1 per cent to $585,661 over the same period.
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For more information, please contact:
BCREA represents 11 member real estate boards and their approximately 18,000 REALTORS® on all provincial issues, providing an extensive communications network, standard forms, economic research and analysis, government relations, applied practice courses and continuing professional education (cpe).
To demonstrate the profession’s commitment to improving Quality of Lifein BC communities, BCREA supports policies that encourage economic vitality, provide housing opportunities, respect the environment and build communities with good schools and safe neighbourhoods.
For detailed statistical information, contact your local real estate board. MLS® is a cooperative marketing system used only by Canada’s real estate boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.
Posted by admin on June 30, 2011 | Comments Off
Home Sales to Rise 5 Per Cent This Year
BCREA 2011 Second Quarter Housing Forecast
Vancouver, BC – June 30, 2011.The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its 2011 Second Quarter Housing Forecast today.
BC Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales are forecast to increase 5 per cent from 74,640 units in 2010 to 78,200 units this year, before increasing a further 3.1 per cent to 80,700 units in 2012.
“Home sales will post some modest gains over the next two years,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “However, positive housing fundamentals like job growth, rising wages and an expanding population base will be somewhat offset by higher borrowing costs over the next eighteen months.”
“Following a decade where unit sales broke all records, consumer demand over the next few years will be relatively moderate,” added Muir. The ten-year BC MLS® residential sales average is 87,000 units. A record 106,300 MLS® residential sales were recorded in 2005.
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The full BCREA Housing Forecast is available at: www.bcrea.bc.ca/economics/HousingForecast.pdf.
For more information, please contact:
BCREA represents 11 member real estate boards and their approximately 18,000 REALTORS® on all provincial issues, providing an extensive communications network, standard forms, economic research and analysis, government relations, applied practice courses and continuing professional education (cpe).
To demonstrate the profession’s commitment to improving Quality of Lifein BC communities, BCREA supports policies that encourage economic vitality, provide housing opportunities, respect the environment and build communities with good schools and safe neighbourhoods.
For detailed statistical information, contact your local real estate board. MLS® is a cooperative marketing system used only by Canada’s real estate boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.
Posted by admin on June 15, 2011 | Comments Off
BC Home Sales Edge Lower in May
Vancouver, BC – June 15, 2011. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential unit sales in the province edged down one per cent to 7,857 units in May compared to the same month last year. The average MLS® residential price climbed 20 per cent to $596,872 last month compared to May 2010.
“Tighter mortgage rules, tepid employment growth and advance buying during the first quarter kept BC home sales on a lower note in May,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “However, recent downward pressure on mortgage interest rates is expected to provide some incentive to consumers over the summer months.”
Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume increased 15 per cent to $20.1 billion, compared to the same period last year. Residential unit sales edged back one per cent to 34,191 units, while the average MLS® residential price rose 16.5 per cent to $588,857 over the same period.
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For more information, please contact:
BCREA represents 11 member real estate boards and their approximately 18,000 REALTORS® on all provincial issues, providing an extensive communications network, standard forms, economic research and analysis, government relations, applied practice courses and continuing professional education (cpe).
To demonstrate the profession’s commitment to improving Quality of Lifein BC communities, BCREA supports policies that encourage economic vitality, provide housing opportunities, respect the environment and build communities with good schools and safe neighbourhoods.
For detailed statistical information, contact your local real estate board. MLS® is a cooperative marketing system used only by Canada’s real estate boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.
Posted by admin on March 14, 2011 | Comments Off
For immediate release
Vancouver, BC – March 14, 2011. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales in the province climbed 5 per cent in February from January 2011, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Compared to February of 2010, MLS® residential unit sales increased 8 per cent to 6,410 units. The average MLS® residential price rose 18 per cent to $587,571 in February compared to the same month last year.
“The surge in consumer demand in Metro Vancouver continues to propel the provincial statistics higher,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “Elevated sales activity in Vancouver’s pricier communities has pushed average home prices higher than market conditions would suggest.” Compared to February 2010, the average MLS® residential price in Vancouver has climbed more than 19 per cent, whereas the Benchmark or typical home price has increased a more modest 4 per cent.
Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume increased 15 per cent $6.03 billion, compared to the same period last year. Residential unit sales remained relatively unchanged, albeit down by 0.3 per cent to 10,547 units. The average MLS® residential price climbed 15.6 per cent to $572,121 over the same period.
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For more information, please contact:
BCREA represents 11 member real estate boards and their approximately 18,000 REALTORS® on all provincial issues, providing an extensive communications network, standard forms, economic research and analysis, government relations, applied practice courses and continuing professional education (cpe).
To demonstrate the profession’s commitment to improving Quality of Life in BC communities, BCREA supports policies that encourage economic vitality, provide housing opportunities, respect the environment and build communities with good schools and safe neighbourhoods.
For detailed statistical information, contact your local real estate board. MLS® is a cooperative marketing system used only by Canada’s real estate boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.
Posted by admin on March 11, 2011 | Comments Off
In today’s marketplace, Canadian consumers are constantly being inundated with advertising claims from a number of real estate brands, many of which sound very similar from one company to the next. The consumer is left wondering whether there really is a difference between real estate companies.
While each brand tries to create a unique sales proposition, Coldwell Banker developed Ultimate Service®. It all starts with listening. Every customer and every transaction is different. Only by listening to the customer and truly understanding their individual needs, can you deliver a value proposition that will meet those needs.
There are three distinct steps to the Ultimate Service marketing process:
First, we listen to the customer, to understand their needs and goals.
Second, together with the customer, we develop a customized service plan to meet their needs and then commit to that service plan, in writing. We offer a signed pledge to customer satisfaction in the form of our Buyer and Seller service guarantees.
Finally, we give our customers an opportunity to evaluate our service in the form of customer satisfaction surveys.These satisfaction surveys benefit the consumer in two ways. First, it provides valuable feedback which allows us to continually evaluate and refine our service offering. Only by constantly improving can you ensure that your service stays ahead of your customers’ expectations.
But there’s another way that our survey benefits the consumer – it offers them a proven track record of our performance. In fact, Coldwell Banker Canada has just earned a 98% overall satisfaction rating from Canadian Home Buyers and Sellers. And what’s more, we’ve now done it for 14 years in a row!
This satisfaction rating is unique in the real estate industry. Why? Because it’s based on what real, live customers had to say about the service experience delivered by their Coldwell Banker professional. This 98% satisfaction rating was tabulated by an independent third party company, and is based on the responses of over 55,000 Canadian home buyers and sellers. No other company in real estate can make that claim.
When you choose Coldwell Banker, you don’t have to take our word for it that we provide outstanding service – just ask our customers!
Posted by kelownahousehunter on March 4, 2011 | No Comments
This sounds like a simple question, particularly when the media reports on it in terms of statistics.
The truth is that a lot of sales in the Okanagan are recreational sales to second home owners who intend to use their properties either for the occasional visit to the region or to rent out. These could clearly be defined as a recreational property… or is it a investment property… or is it a single family home? That is the dilemma that REALTORS(®) face every day when they enter the data into the MLS(®) system.
As an Agent in Canada, we have a number of obligations to a selling client and one of those is to accurately market the property in the correct category to gain market exposure for the client. The dilemma is, what is the best category?
The media is very quick to report on fluctuating recreational property sales and yet the only data they can access for their reports is MLS data, in fact it is the only accurate data of the resale market in Canada.
A quick scan of listings in the Okanagan would indicate that in fact most recreational real estate is not listed as recreational real estate at all. This situation has developed because as REALTORS(®) we attempt to categorize properties so that the search parameters make sense. But if you were to look at buying a condo at The Cove on the Westside, would you search for an apartment condo or recreational property? The answer is an apartment condo and so Realtors list (correctly I might add) the property as an apartment condo. If you were to buy a single family cottage at La Casa on the Westside, would you search for recreational property or a single family home, the correct answer is a single family home which is where these properties are listed yet it is very easy to argue that most of these sales are “recreational” purchases.
Even more confusing might be a multi-million dollar lakefront home. It may be listed as a single family home but is sold to a wealthy family who intend to use it one month in the year…. should it then be reported as a recreational property?
What this leads to is confusing media reports because the fluctuations in the Recreational category do not relate to the actual buying activity in the recreational market place. While the category may be helpful to some, it is certainly confusing to many and my advice is to talk to your local REALTOR(®) when you want to find out how market segments are performing because the data does not always tell the full story… it may not be perfect but it is the best we have at the moment.
The REALTOR(®) will use the data as a platform for discussion but will supplement that with more refined custom searches that will more accurately reflect the correct answer to your question.
About the author…
Mark Jennings-Bates has been actively been involved in the resort development industry and real estate investment industry since the early 1990′s in Canmore, Alberta and the Okanagan. He was the publisher of the Canadian Rockies Resort Forecast which provided insight into trends in the resort development industry in the late 1990′s.
He now sits on the Board of Directors of several companies and operates a resort development consulting company, BLC Group North America Ltd. with business partner Andy Harris as well as working as a Real Estate Representative with Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty in Kelowna.
Mark’s goal with these articles is to provide insight into some of the development opportunities in the Okanagan and juxtapose it with other resort development activities in North America and around the globe. From time to time he will publish articles designed to assist you in evaluating investment opportunities in resort oriented real estate programs?
Mark is a realtor with Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty in Kelowna and can be contacted at 860-7500.
Posted by admin on February 28, 2011 | Comments Off
For immediate release
BC Commercial Real Estate Market to Strengthen
Vancouver, BC – February 28, 2011. The BC commercial real estate market should continue to strengthen through 2011, according to the new Commercial Leading Indicator (CLI) index developed by the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA). The BCREA CLI rose 2.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2010 to an index level of 110.5, marking seven straight quarters of improvement.
The CLI peaked at a level of 115.9 in the second quarter of 2007 before the onset of the financial crisis pushed it to a low of 100.1 in the first half of 2009. In 2010, the index posted a more material recovery, albeit from a relatively weak level, and is still 5.3 per cent below its peak.
“Economic indicators that tend to lead activity in the commercial real estate market have posted strong growth over several consecutive quarters,” said Brendon Ogmundson, BCREA Economist. “Based on these macro-level indicators, we would anticipate 2011 to be a strong year for the commercial sector.”
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The full BCREA Commercial Leading Indicator index is available at: www.bcrea.bc.ca/economics/2011-02CLI.pdf.
For more information, please contact:
BCREA represents 11 member real estate boards and their approximately 18,000 REALTORS® on all provincial issues, providing an extensive communications network, standard forms, economic research and analysis, government relations, applied practice courses and continuing professional education (cpe).
To demonstrate the profession’s commitment to improving Quality of Life in BC communities, BCREA supports policies that encourage economic vitality, provide housing opportunities, respect the environment and build communities with good schools and safe neighbourhoods.
Posted by admin on February 23, 2011 | Comments Off
For immediate release
Home Sales to Climb Eight Per Cent in 2011
BCREA Housing Forecast Update – First Quarter 2011
Vancouver, BC – February 23, 2011. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its Housing Forecast for the first quarter of 2011 today.
BC Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales are forecast to increase 8 per cent from 74,640 units in 2010 to 80,900 units this year, and increase another 4 per cent to 83,950 units in 2012.
“British Columbia housing markets are returning to normalcy after two years of volatility,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “Employment and population growth will fuel consumer demand over the next two years. However, higher mortgage interest rates and tighter credit conditions for low equity home buyers will limit home sales to below the ten-year average of 87,600 units.”
“Total active residential listings in the province declined 14 per cent since last spring. However, the inventory of homes for sale is expected to edge higher as the number of new listings to the market advances during the first two quarters of 2011,” added Muir. “Regional market differences continue in the province, with Vancouver trending into a seller’s market, while the Okanagan, Kootenay and Kamloops markets trend from a buyer’s market toward balanced conditions.”
The average MLS® residential price is forecast to increase 2 per cent to $517,000 this year and remain relatively unchanged in 2012, albeit declining by 0.4 per cent to $515,400.
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The full BCREA Housing Forecast Update is available at: www.bcrea.bc.ca/economics/HousingForecast.pdf.
For more information, please contact:
BCREA represents 11 member real estate boards and their approximately 18,000 REALTORS® on all provincial issues, providing an extensive communications network, standard forms, economic research and analysis, government relations, applied practice courses and continuing professional education (cpe).
To demonstrate the profession’s commitment to improving Quality of Life in BC communities, BCREA supports policies that encourage economic vitality, provide housing opportunities, respect the environment and build communities with good schools and safe neighbourhoods.
For detailed statistical information, contact your local real estate board. MLS® is a cooperative marketing system used only by Canada’s real estate boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.
Posted by admin on January 13, 2011 | Comments Off
For immediate release
Record Home Prices for 2010
Vancouver, BC – January 13, 2011. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales in the province declined 12 per cent to 74,640 units in 2010. The annual average MLS® residential price rose 8.5 per cent to a record $505,178 in 2010.
“Tighter credit conditions and expended pent-up demand curbed home sales during the first half of 2010,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “However, low mortgage interest rates and improved economic conditions buoyed home sales in the latter half of the year.” MLS® residential unit sales declined 40 per cent January through July before climbing 43 per cent by the end of the year, on a seasonally adjusted basis.
“The inventory of homes for sale peaked at 53,375 units in May before declining 14 per cent to 46,000 units by December,” added Muir. “The combination of fewer active listings and increased consumer demand has improved market conditions in many areas.”
MLS® residential sales declined 25 per cent to 4,258 units in December from a near record level of 5,703 units in December 2009. After a 15 per cent increase in unit sales between October and November, a further 1 per cent increase was recorded in December on a seasonally adjusted basis. The average MLS® residential sales price was a record $523,990 in December, up 6 per cent from December 2009.
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For more information, please contact:
BCREA represents 12 member real estate boards and their approximately 18,000 REALTORS® on all provincial issues, providing an extensive communications network, standard forms, economic research and analysis, government relations, applied practice courses and continuing professional education (cpe).
To demonstrate the profession’s commitment to improving Quality of Life in BC communities, BCREA supports policies that encourage economic vitality, provide housing opportunities, respect the environment and build communities with good schools and safe neighbourhoods.
For detailed statistical information, contact your local real estate board. MLS® is a cooperative marketing system used only by Canada’s real estate boards to ensure maximum exposure of properties listed for sale.
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