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  OTTAWA – April 16, 2012 – According to statistic^[1]s released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national resale housing activity edged higher in March 2012.

Highlights:

• Home sales rose 2.5% from February to March.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 1.6% above levels in March 2011, the smallest year-over-year increase since last April.
• The number of newly listed homes eased 0.3% from February to March.
• While still well balanced, the national housing market tightened due to the rise in activity.
• The national average home price edged down 0.5% on a year-over-year basis in March.

Sales activity over MLS® Systems of Canadian real estate Boards and Associations rose 2.5 per cent from February to March 2012. The increase lifted national activity to its highest monthly level since April 2010.

Activity in March was up from the previous month in two-thirds of all local markets, with Toronto, Calgary, and Edmonton contributing most to the national increase.

Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 1.6 per cent above levels in March 2011, the smallest year-over-year increase since last April. It reflects moderate gains in a number of major centres, including Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City. Increases in these housing markets offset larger declines in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, where activity last year ran at unusually strong levels.

A total of 108,373 homes traded hands in the first three months of the year. This is 5.0 per cent above the five-year average for first quarter sales, 3.8 per cent above the 10-year average, and 4.4 per cent above activity in the first quarter of 2011.

New listings were little changed following their uptick in February, having edged lower by 0.3 per cent on a month-over-month basis in March. The number of newly listed homes declined from the previous month in just over half of all local Canadian housing markets, and rose in almost all of the remainder.

“The spring housing market is off to a good start,” said Wayne Moen, CREA’s President. “The number of sales and newly listed properties are up from levels last year, and the vast majority of housing markets remain balanced. That said, all housing is local, so buyers and sellers should talk to their local REALTOR® to understand current and prospective trends where they live.”

The national housing market remains well balanced, although the monthly increase in sales activity caused the balance between supply and demand to tighten slightly.

The national sales-to-new listings ratio, a measure of market balance, stood at 55.1 per cent in March. This remains firmly in balanced market territory, but is up from 53.6 per cent in February. Based on a ratio of between 40 and 60 per cent, more than half of local markets were balanced in March.

The number of months of inventory stood at 5.7 at the end of March on a national basis, down slightly from 5.8 months in February. The number of months of inventory represents the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity, and is another measure of the balance between housing supply and demand.

The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in March 2012 was $369,677, representing a decline of one half of a percentage point from the same month last year.

“Average prices are up from year-ago levels in most large urban centres,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “The slight decline in the national average price points to a tug of war between Toronto and Vancouver from the standpoint of their sales mix compared to last year.”

“The national average price was skewed higher last spring by record level high-end home sales in some of Vancouver’s priciest neighbourhoods. It was expected that this would not recur this spring, which the latest sales figures confirm. The decline in average price reflects the change in Vancouver’s sales mix, not housing price deflation.”

“At the same time, overall home sales activity in Toronto is stronger than it was last spring, and higher-end home sales are up from year-ago levels. Being by far the most active housing market in Canada, Toronto represents the single biggest factor supporting national average price compared to last year.”

¹ All figures in this release except average price are seasonally adjusted. Removing normal seasonal variations enables meaningful analysis of monthly changes and fundamental trends.

PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release combines both major market and national MLS^® sales information from the previous month.

CREA cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighbourhoods or account for price differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.

Here is this weeks Garage Sale list

I’ll bet you can find some good finds at this weeks.

Click on the photo for the map.

Happy New Year!

Similar to the holiday season, there are few sales going on at the moment. However, that does not mean that there is not quality to be found in the ones going on.

Click on the photo for the map and list.

2011 REAL ESTATE MARKET SHOWCASES REGIONAL VARIATION

(Surrey, BC) – Overall, Fraser Valley’s real estate market in 2011 was below the 10-year average in property sales and above average in the number of new listings received, however, according to the president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, results varied widely depending on the community and property type.

Fraser Valley Real Estate Board President, Sukh Sidhu observes, “I can’t remember a year that illustrates better how local real estate is and the importance of talking to your REALTOR® before making a decision to buy or sell. For example, in my community of Abbotsford, sales of single family homes dropped by almost 7 per cent compared to 2010, pushing prices down slightly, while in South Surrey/White Rock sales increased year over year by 45 per cent resulting in double-digit price increases.”

The Board’s Multiple Listing Service® processed 15,529 sales in 2011 compared to 14,891 the previous year, an increase of 4 per cent, while the number of new listings remained about the same – 31,592 in 2011 compared to 31,437 in 2010. Over the year, the number of active listings for buyers to choose from dropped by 9 per cent going from 8,139 properties in December 2010 to 7,399 in December 2011.

Although 2011 ranks the third slowest year for sales in Fraser Valley since 2002, it was only 10 per cent less than the 10-year average of 17,210 sales. The volume of new listings received in 2011 was 6 per cent more than the 10-year average of 29,867 new listings, placing last year third in ranking since 2002.

Sidhu adds, “One trend from 2011 that is clear was the preference for single family homes. For the most part in our region, both sales and prices of townhomes and condos either stayed on par with 2010 or decreased.”

In December, the benchmark price of a detached home in the Fraser Valley was $522,998, an increase of 3.3 per cent compared to $506,145 in December 2010 and a decrease of 1.7 per cent compared to November.

For townhouses, the benchmark price in December was $315,330, a decrease of 2.1 per cent compared to the same month last year when it was $322,054 and down 3.8 per cent compared to November. The benchmark price of apartments in December was $237,285, a decrease of 1.2 per cent compared to December 2010 and a decrease of 0.5 per cent compared to November.

Average prices year over year show detached homes up 9.1 per cent – $610,269 in 2011 compared to $559,456 in 2010. The average price of townhomes increased by 2.6 per cent, going from $336,484 in 2010 to $345,138 in 2011 and the average price of apartments increased by 0.9 per cent going from $223,910 in 2010 to $225,976 in 2011.

The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board is an association of 2,893 real estate professionals who live and work in the BC communities of North Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langley, Abbotsford, and Mission. The FVREB marked its 90-year anniversary in 2011.

Full package: Here

Help us raise funds and awareness of ‘Movember’ by buying a hot dog.

Not a big list this week. But a quality one, no doubt.

Yes, I spelled it ‘Movember’. If you are not sure why, click on the moustache.

For Garage Sales, click on the image.

November 28 - December 5, 2011

REALTORS® and real estate offices are gearing up for this year's REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive, the longest continuous blanket drive in the Lower Mainland!

In 2011, REALTORS® collected and donated enough blankets and warm clothing to directly help more than 100,000 people from Whistler to Hope and places in-between.

Needed donations

New or gently used
  • blankets, sleeping bags
  • warm clothing - coats, jeans, pants, sweaters 
  • scarves, gloves, mitts, hats

New (women, children, men)
  • socks
  • underwear

Please click here for a drop off location near you!

The REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive story

Way back in 1995, some caring REALTORS® in Vancouver observed the homeless situation in the city’s eastside and said to themselves, we’ve got to do something.

They put out an appeal to their fellow colleagues for warm blankets and coats and collected 600 bags of donations specifically dedicated to Vancouver’s homeless in the downtown core.

That single act of kindness has blossomed into one of the largest annual collections of warm clothing and blankets, helping homeless people and the working poor in every single community in the Lower Mainland.

Fifteen years later, thousands of REALTORS® from Whistler to Chilliwack have collected more than 27,000 bags of donations. Each year, more than 75 amazingly dedicated members actually pick-up and deliver all the donations, and well over 100 real estate offices in the Lower Mainland act as collection depots.

The annual REALTORS Care® Drive now collects an astonishing 4,000 plus bags of warm, winter items on behalf of dozens of local charities.

November 28 - December 5, 2011

REALTORS® and real estate offices are gearing up for this year's REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive, the longest continuous blanket drive in the Lower Mainland!

In 2011, REALTORS® collected and donated enough blankets and warm clothing to directly help more than 100,000 people from Whistler to Hope and places in-between.

Needed donations

New or gently used
  • blankets, sleeping bags
  • warm clothing - coats, jeans, pants, sweaters 
  • scarves, gloves, mitts, hats

New (women, children, men)
  • socks
  • underwear

Please click here for a drop off location near you!

The REALTORS Care® Blanket Drive story

Way back in 1995, some caring REALTORS® in Vancouver observed the homeless situation in the city’s eastside and said to themselves, we’ve got to do something.

They put out an appeal to their fellow colleagues for warm blankets and coats and collected 600 bags of donations specifically dedicated to Vancouver’s homeless in the downtown core.

That single act of kindness has blossomed into one of the largest annual collections of warm clothing and blankets, helping homeless people and the working poor in every single community in the Lower Mainland.

Fifteen years later, thousands of REALTORS® from Whistler to Chilliwack have collected more than 27,000 bags of donations. Each year, more than 75 amazingly dedicated members actually pick-up and deliver all the donations, and well over 100 real estate offices in the Lower Mainland act as collection depots.

The annual REALTORS Care® Drive now collects an astonishing 4,000 plus bags of warm, winter items on behalf of dozens of local charities.

It’s getting a bit cold out there. But people are still hosting Garage Sales and people are still going to them.

Click on the picture for the map.

Here is this weeks list:

LIST