|
August 2012
The hills are alive with the sound of activity. Alberta is booming and we can feel it. This was the busiest August since 2007 in SFD sales. Plus, 19 properties sold over a million last month! (Basically 10% of the homes that sold were over $1 Million)
10 were lakeshore, 6 were fantastic homes under one acre, 2 acreages and 1 condo. Compare this to 10 years ago, in 2002 only 15 properties sold over one million in the entire year.
Kelowna And Area Single Family Dwellings (SFD) Activity
Sales in the Single Family Dwellings (SFD) improved and reached 183 in August which is 27% above 2011 and is slightly below our 20 year average which is 191 sales.
Listings show a slight decrease to a total of 1,672 which is 2% lower than last year’s August and similar to 2009, but way above the middle 2000s which were around the 800 mark.
Percentage of Listings vs Sales. We are showing some improvement, but we are still clearly in a buyer’s market at 10.9% of the listing inventory selling or 9 months of inventory, but above last year of only 7.7% selling.
Average Price Holding Steady
The average price here in Kelowna was $488,109 last month which is certainly above last year’s August, but all in all very steady. The activity is under $600,000 which accounts for 80% of the sales. 17 homes sold under $300,000. 14 homes sold between $700 and $1 million and only the 6 homes not on the lake or on acreages over one million were used in the calculations.
Average prices are affected by changes in the mix of sales, so year-over-year price comparisons can be like looking in a funhouse mirror: Distorted. Also to make it more realistic, we do not count lakeshore or acreages as part of the SFD sales.
To illustrate: line up a children’s class by height, calculate the average. Now excuse the ten tallest children and recalculate the average. The average height has declined, but the children did not get shorter.
Did you know that?
Interest rate update
Carney has again left Canada’s trendsetting overnight rate on September 5th as is. That leaves the prime rate steady at 3.00%. It has been two years now since the prime last inched higher. CMHC said short-term mortgage rates and variable mortgage rates are expected to remain near historically low levels, which will help support housing demand. The outlook’s base case also assumes that mortgage rates will remain flat in the short term.
CMHC Housing market outlook
Western Canada: All four western provinces are expected to see growth in housing starts in 2012, with Alberta leading the way at about 23.7% growth. In 2013, only Saskatchewan will see negative growth, at approximately -3.5%. British Columbia will lead western Canadian growth in 2013 at 5.6%.
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/odpub/esub/61500/61500_2012_Q03.pdf?fr=1346783389859
Remember, Good Deals Are Not Found, They Are Made.
The greatest compliment we can receive are the referrals from our clients, friends and acquaintances.
| Victoria: |
A Steady, Flat Real Estate Market Continues in Greater VictoriaTotal MLS® residential sales for August 2012 was 462 compared to 542 for the same period in 2011. During the month, 240 single family homes sold throughout the Victoria Real Estate Board’s region, 67 fewer than the 307 sold in August 2011. The average price for single family homes sold in Greater Victoria last month was $590,843, down from August 2011’s average of $652,841. The median price is down by $17,000 to $530,000. There are 5,034 active listings. 10 homes sold over $1 Million
|
| |
|
| Vancouver: |
Home Sellers Continue to Outnumber Buyers in Greater Vancouver’s Summer Housing Market
August sales were the second lowest total for the month in the region since 1998 and 39.2% below the 10-year August sales average of 2,711.
New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 4,044 in August. This represents a 13.7% decline compared to August 2011 when 4,685 properties were listed for sale on the MLS® and a 15.8% decline compared to the 4,802 new listings in July 2012.
The MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver is $609,500. This represents a decline of 0.5% compared to this time last year and a decline of 1.1% compared to last month.
|
| |
|
| Calgary: |
City Growth Slows While Town Sales Continue To Soar
Following several months of CREB® TOWNS YTD Total sales are higher than expected sales growth. Calgary residential sales in August totaled 1,725 units, a 10% increase over last year. Single family sales totaled 1,169 in August 2012, 6% above levels recorded in 2011. Meanwhile, new listings declined by 14% on a year-over-year basis over the same time frame. As of August, the benchmark price for a single family home was $432,600, an 8% increase over August 2011 levels.
|
| |
|
| Edmonton: |
Edmonton’s Slower Market Activity Matches National Trend
Residential property sales in August slowed both month-to-month and year-to-year, mirroring a trend that has evolved nationally all summer. Sales of all types of residential properties in August (1,430) were down 17.4% from July and down 10.7% from a year ago. The number of people offering their properties for sale also slowed but not as sharply as sales. Despite the slowdown in sales, prices were up as compared to August 2011. The average selling price of a single family detached home (SFD) was down marginally (-0.15%) at $384,477 from last month but up 3.8% from a year ago. Average prices are affected by the difference in price of similar properties as well as the market composition or mix of homes sold. Compared to a year ago, a typical bungalow in August sold for 2.2% more while a typical 2-story home sold for about 3.2% more. While the price of an individual home was rising, the market composition was also changing. In August 2012, 53% of SFDs sold were priced below $375,000 as compared to 59% in 2011. In addition, the number of sales of homes over $500,000 was up from 11% in 2011 to almost 15% this year.
|
| |
|
| Toronto: |
Low-Rise Home Sales Drive August Price Growth
Sales of existing homes in the Greater Toronto Area fell almost 12.5% in August, compared to a year ago, while the number of new listings fell 5.5%. But the average price rose by almost 6.5%, to $479,095, with the increase driven largely by detached homes. And the local real estate board is predicting that the decline in new listings will continue to fuel tough competition between potential buyers of downtown low-rise homes, a trend that it says should support further price increases.
|
| |
|
|
|
Rutland South Exquisite clean & bright 2 bedrm + den town home. Only 40 minutes drive to Big White and close to fabulous YMCA facility. Smart design & fashionably decorated it has a spacious kitchen with island & maple cabinetry, diningrm with SGD to deck + lge livingrm w/ SGD to patio. On upper level is the full master suite with walk-in closet and a 4 piece en-suite, second bedroom, another full bathroom and laundry facility with stack-able washer and dryer. The lower level boasts the welcoming foyer, spacious den, storage and the attached garage access. Near school, parks, bus, recreation facilities…
More pictures and information here.
|
