Several homes for sale in Vancouver were hot items last February, according to the findings of the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board. More information are reported in this excerpt from an article by The Canadian Press on Huffington Post.
“Sales through the board’s Multiple Listing Service were up more than 40 percent from 1,797 a year ago and from 1,760 in January this year.
“Homebuyer demand picked up in February, which is consistent with typical seasonal patterns in our housing market,” said Sandra Wyant, president of the Vancouver board.
February sales were in line with the city’s 10-year average for the month of 2,547.”
For the sales and listings, numbers essentially stuck to the 10-year average, as well as the new listings. February’s statistic of 4,700 homes on the market is just slightly below the 10-year average for new listings (0.5 percent lower). Almost all of the 4,700 listings throughout Greater Vancouver in February included detached, attached, and apartment-type homes. This represented a 2.8 percent decline compared to last year’s 4,833 – however, it’s actually not that bad. The Greater Vancouver MLS listed a total of 13,412 properties for sale; a 9.3 percent decline compared to a year ago and a 6.4 percent increase in contrast to January this year.
At a glance, Greater Vancouver’s overall home sales were up by exactly 43.8% from January to February 2014. Townhome-style properties experienced the greatest increase, selling an additional 67% more compared to a mere 39.9% from a year ago. Detached-type homes are far second with a 41% increase, and apartment-types follow at third place with a 37% increase.
Different communities sported varying prices all throughout, which are also determined according to property types. Simple apartments are the significantly cheaper properties, with the community of Maple Ridge chalking up the least-inexpensive benchmark price of $173,100. On the other hand, single-family detached homes had heftier price tags with the Vancouver West neighborhood tallying the priciest median of $2,145,200. West Vancouver comes in close second with a median price of $1,901,000. On a more general aspect, Vancouver’s overall benchmark price was $609,100, up 3.2 percent from a year ago.
There’s literally hundreds of lovely homes for sale in Vancouver, B.C., and first-time homebuyers may find it hard to choose one. Fortunately, established real estate companies like Vancouver Canada Homes are there to help their clients narrow down their choices.
(Source: Vancouver Real Estate: Home Sales Pick Up, Huffington Post, March 4, 2014)
