April Detached Benchmark: $818,403
May Detached Benchmark: $810,175
May Detached Benchmark: $810,175
Benchmark all Properties April: $593,419
Benchmark all Properties May: $590,662
Benchmark Attached April: $502,399.
Benchmark Attached May : $500,339
Benchmark Apartment April : $397,77
Benchmark Apartment May : $398,783
10% decline in sales from last month and last year.
48% more new listings in May, than a year ago.
Total listings up 10% from last month and 28% higher than last year.
Ok, so it's not time to whip off your clothes and have a thong part on your balcony, but it is a danged good start.
Detached Average price is down the $40K that Larry said (kudos again)
Now we also know why it took them so long to bring out the report. Those rascals in the FVREB had already taken the word abundance. So the committee had to come up with another word to indicate exploding inventory and declining sales. da..da...
May market offers buyers greater selection
Here is the whole report. Note there are some (-) signs appearing in the 3 year column (Chad). That would mean the benchmark is already down from 3 years ago eg Squamish detached and Maple Ridge apartment.
It's small yet, but from small acorns, mighty oaks do grow:
Benchmark declines, sweet benchmark declines :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised though--- In April I argued we'd see declines in the May benchmark:
http://fishyre.blogspot.com/2010/04/end-of-easy-money.html#comments
It's all down for the rest of the year. I'm guessing when the Spring 2011 bounce never comes that's when widespread seller panic strikes.
Darn crystal ball doesn't tell me how big the drop will be though!
Nice call Panda.
ReplyDeleteI am inclined to agree with you.
I think the B of Canada is back in it's burrow, now we have to depend on down-ward momentum to get us moving fast.
BTW- did you notice how sticky benchmark was on the way down in 2008. Not that I am saying it isn't valid, but like Teranet it seems to lag things.
Keep an eye on Larry's site over the next few weeks, he says he will start the neighbourhood snapshots.
Dont jinx it panda! I was laughing in 09 when there was that bounce and low and behold 1 year later we were above the highs of 08.
ReplyDeleteCautious optimism is the key.
Not like I'm supersticious, but I hate being overconfident.
Well the day we get confirmation of a topping of the market, we get slapped with one of the biggest list/sales in a while.
ReplyDeleteMany of the areas I look at, are at 80% +/- for today.
One house in West Van just reduced it's price by $400K or 22%. I kid you not. Then there are other houses sold on the same day for almost their full price of multimillion $ ...huh!?
I hope that our bankers aren't so brain-dead that they lend high ratios out in a falling market and then hold their hands out for a bail-out when it hits the fan.
I'm sorry to harp on this but what confirmation are you talking about? Overall the market is down less than 1% and apartments are up almost 4% this month. Bears excite easily.
ReplyDeleteChad, not sure what you are referring to. 399.77/398.78=1.0025 or a 0.25 percent increase on apts. L
ReplyDeleteA large number minus a small number is still a large number. There is a long way to go before I trade in my gold bars for a house.
ReplyDeletePanda, you're right according to GVREB #'s.. I initially was using Larry's numbers but with GVREB #'s the drop is still extremely small. I wouldn't be surprised with some more drops coming because the media is so bearish RE right now we will see some panic selling but still nothing like some euphoric bears are predicting. Euphoric after a less than 1% drop after a 25% gain... comical.
ReplyDeleteso gold will drop by 1% this week. Right chady?
ReplyDeleteWait...what's this connection between gold inflation and RE again? Would somebody care to explain?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletechady says since the legal currency in Vancouver is gold and all the transactions are done in gold, housing prices should be measured in ounces of gold it is worth. Since housing prices can never drop in Vancouver, if we such a thing happening, it means gold is losing value. So, if we see 1% drop in house prices, the gold must drop by 1%. I think I got it right. Right chady?
ReplyDelete