The number of properties listed for sale continued to increase in the Greater Vancouver housing market in May. The number of sales decreased year over year, but remained relatively constant compared to recent months.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 2,853 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in May 2012. This represents a 15.5 per cent decline compared to the 3,377 sales recorded in May 2011.
May sales were the lowest total for the month in the region since 2001 and 21.1 per cent below the 10-year May sales average of 3,617. However, sales have been constant throughout the spring months, with 2,874 sales in March and 2,799 sales in April.
Home sellers have outpaced buyers in recent months, however, there continues to be an overall balance between supply and demand in our marketplace.
New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 6,927 in May 2012. This represents a 16.8 per cent increase compared to May 2011 when 5,931 homes were listed for sale and a 14.4 per cent increase compared to April 2012 when 6,056 homes were listed for sale on the region’s MLS®.
Last month’s new listing total was 15.3 per cent above the 10-year average for listings in Greater Vancouver for May.
At 17,835, the total number of homes listed for sale on the region’s MLS® increased 7.9 per cent in May compared to last month and increased 21 per cent from this time last year.
Richmond
Switching to Richmond, the sales- to-active-listing ratio sits at 9.8%, which is indicative of a falling market. We see market stability in the 15 to 20% range and an increasing market as we saw in early 2011 in the 20% plus sales- to-active-listing range.
Sales of Richmond detached properties on MLS® in May 2012 reached 111 a decline of 17.78% from 135 Richmond detached sales in May 2011.
Sales of Richmond apartment properties on MLS® in May 2012 reached 93 a decline of 31.11% from Richmond Apartments sales in May 2011.
Richmond townhome properties on MLS® in May 2012 totalled 77 a decline of 25.24% from 103 Richmond townhome sales in May 2011.
Source Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver
