Home Sales drop 14% YOY in the Fraser Valley

FVRB notes drop in January sales
Feb 11 2007

"Multiple Listing Service sales and listings were down in January, over the same month last year. "

"According to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board the total number of sales processed in January was 1,001, a decrease of 14 per cent compared to the same month last year when 1,165 sales were processed. However, it is an 18.8 per cent increase compared to the 842 sales processed in January 2005. "

"New listings in January increased by 14 per cent compared to 2006. As well, the Fraser Valley MLS saw an increase in the number of expensive properties listed. "

"More than 75 single family homes listed at one million or more entered the Fraser Valley market in January, says David Rishel, president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board. "

“There is also a range of choices for average home buyers, with almost 600 homes valued between $250,000 and $500,000 listed last month.”

"The Board received 2,425 new listings in January compared to 2,127 during the same period last year, bringing the total active inventory in the Fraser Valley to 6,099, an increase of 29 per cent over last year. "

"The average price of a single-family detached house in the Fraser Valley in January was $494,177, an increase of just over 11 per cent compared to the same month last year. In January 2006, the average price was $444,771. "

"Townhouses sold for an average of $302,591 in January, an increase of 16.2 per cent from 2006 when they sold for an average of $260,445. The average apartment price went up 18 per cent in one year, from January 2006’s average of $169,473, to $199,995 in 2007. "

A Home's Real Value

We obsess too much about whether our houses earned or lost value and ignore the longer view our elders took.
By MARK POTHIER February 11, 2007

"These days, people tend to think of houses as places to stay while waiting to go somewhere else. Maybe they anticipate corporate headquarters moving jobs out of state or fear layoffs will arrive with the next quarterly report. Maybe a marriage has started to fray. Perhaps they covet a bigger house with more amenities. Judging by the displays at Home Depot and Lowe's, everyone seems to require the same gleaming appliances, stone counters, and hangar-sized bathrooms. But to homeowners of my in-laws' generation, the attachment to where they lived was as secure as a foundation. Houses were not acquired primarily for investment purposes or seen as banks to tap for debt consolidation and cars. They would not have considered buying one with the idea of “flipping” it for profit. And the only growth trends they followed were their children's and, later, grandchildren's, with each additional inch of height etched in pencil on a wall. But they also bought during a time when prices were modest, job security was the norm, pensions were still intact, and marriages usually lasted longer than the mortgage. Home ownership was less complicated then." Full Article.

Fraser Valley RE Board wants housing taxes lowered.

Taxed through the roof
By Monique TammingaTimes ReporterFeb 11 2007

"Is it time for governments to start cutting some slack on overtaxed home buyers? "

"The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board thinks so. "

"Anyone looking to buy the average-priced home in Langley Township ($530,000) is going to pay $8,600 in property transfer tax (PTT) to the province, up front. "

"If that person is looking to buy a new home, the buyer will also pay $31,000 in GST to the federal government. " Full Article.