March Brings A Moderating Housing Market

Unit Sales Decline But Prices Continue To Rise

Unit Sales Off From Prior Year
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reported total sales of all types of residential real estate totalled 2,997 units in March 2008, off 16.3% from prior year sales of 3,582, and off 25.7% from the 4,033 units sold in March 2006.

New Listings Up Marginally
The board reported new listings of detached, attached and apartment properties rose 4% to 5,674 in March 2008 vs. the 5,456 units listed in March 2007.

President's Message
"The market is continuing to balance, with sales and listings beginning to re-align with our 10 year averages," says REBGV president, Dave Watt. "The selection of inventory hitting the market is wider than we have seen in the past few years, which gives prospective buyers more choices."

Sales By Property Type
Sales of detached homes declined 20.2% to 1,116 units from the 1,399 recorded in March 2007. The benchmark price, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, for detached homes rose 12.1% vs. March 2007 to $764,616.
Sales of apartment homes declined 10.6% in March 2008 to 1,370 units vs. the 1,532 units sold in the same period in 2007. The benchmark price for apartment homes was up 11.5% from prior year period to $389,609.
Sales of attached homes declined 21.5% to 511 units in March 2008 vs. the 651 units sold in March 2007. The benchmark price increased to $473,543 in March 2008, up 10.6% from prior year.

Days On Market (DOM)
Overall DOM dropped to 36 days in March 2008 vs. 40 DOM in February 2008, and 43 DOM reported in March 2007.

Planning a move? Give me a call for a Free, No Obligation market evaluation of your property, or to schedule a meeting to discuss your purchase options.

Anita Schmitt, REALTOR® - Royal LePage Northshore

Data Source MLS® Sales Statistics - April 2, 2008

This communication is not intended to cause or induce breach of an existing agency agreement.