Local housing market offers affordability

 

The price for homes in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows dipped slightly from April 2011 to April 2012

 

BY TROY LANDREVILLE, THE TIMESMAY 24, 2012

 

 

 

Homes continue to sprout up along 240th Street in the ever-developing Albion area.

Photograph by: Troy Landreville, TIMES

April was not a great month across the board when it came to real estate sales in Metro Vancouver and the price of homes in this area have dropped during the past year as well.

 

In Pitt Meadows, townhouse prices, currently with a benchmark price of $319,000, dipped by 4.6 per cent compared to April of last year. Pitt Meadows apartment prices ($221,800) dropped by 2.6 per cent from April 2011.

 

Detached homes ($506,300) in Pitt Meadows rose, only slightly, by 0.8 per cent over the past 12 months.

Further east in Maple Ridge, the benchmark price of a detached home ($469,100) fell slightly, by 0.2 per cent. Townhouses ($274,400) saw a 2.1 per cent decline in price since April 2011 while apartment prices ($183,400) dipped by 0.9 per cent.

 

Local realtor Jessica Prasad with Sutton West Coast Realty said the real estate market in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows continues to have potential, as rising house prices draw home buyers into the Fraser Valley.

 

"A home in Maple Ridge, compared to Vancouver, is great for a first-time home buyer, and it's a growing area," said Prasad, who has been selling real estate in the area for the past two years. "You have the West Coast Express, and it will take you to downtown Vancouver in an hour, and that's an advantage for commuters."

Prasad said many potential buyers are coming from the Tri-Cities area.

 

"They're not wanting to cross bridges or move too far away [from Metro Vancouver] and are finding [Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows] affordable," she said.

 

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reported that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 2,799 on the Multiple Listing Service in April.

 

This represents a 13.2-per cent decline compared to the 3,225 sales recorded in April 2011 and a decline of 2.6 per cent compared to the 2,874 sales in March 2012.

 

April sales were the lowest total for the month in the region since 2001 and 16.9 per cent below the 10-year April sales average of 3,369.

 

REBGV president Eugen Klein said it isn't all bad news: "Although April sales were below what's typical for the month, we continue to see, with a sales-to-active listing ratio of nearly 17 per cent, a balanced relationship between buyer demand and seller supply in our marketplace."

 

New listings for detached, attached, and apartment properties in Metro Vancouver totalled 6,056 in April 2012. This represents a 3.6 per cent increase compared to both March 2012 when 5,843 homes were listed and April 2011 when 5,847 homes were listed for sale on the region's MLS.

 

Last month's new listing total was 6.7 per cent above the 10-year average for listings in Greater Vancouver for April.

At 16,538, the total number of homes listed for sale on the region's MLS increased 8.5 per cent in April compared to last month and increased 16 per cent from this time last year.

 

Klein said recent activity has had a "stabilizing effect on home prices at the regional level," although pricing can vary depending on area and property type.

 

The benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver currently sits at $683,800, up 3.7 per cent compared to April 2011 and an increase of 2.8 per cent over the last three months.

 

The benchmark price for all residential properties in the Lower Mainland is $612,000, which is a 3.4-per cent increase compared to April 2011 and a 2.6 per cent increase compared to three months ago.

 

Sales of detached properties on the MLS in April 2012 reached 1,126, a decline of 19.7 per cent from the 1,402 detached sales recorded in April 2011, and a 17.8per-cent decrease from the 1,370 units sold in April 2010. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 6.3 per cent from April 2011 to $1,064,800.

 

Sales of apartment properties reached 1,190 in April 2012, a decline of 0.9 per cent compared to the 1,201 sales in April 2011, and a decrease of 22 per cent compared to the 1,526 sales in April 2010. The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 1.1 per cent from April 2011 to $375,900.

 

Townhome property sales in April 2012 totalled 483, a decline of 22.3 per cent compared to the 622 sales in April 2011, and a 21.6 per cent decrease from the 616 townhome properties sold in April 2010.

 

tlandreville@mrtimes.com

© Copyright (c) Maple Ridge Times

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Evergreen Line Will Proceed

Metro Vancouver mayors have voted in favour of a transit plan that includes expanded services and the Evergreen Line.

“A positive vote means the Evergreen Line will proceed.” – Minister Lekstrom

The provincial government is committing $583 million to funding the Evergreen Line. Translink will provide $400 million and the federal government will contribute $417 million.  The Evergreen Line will relieve congestion, improve air quality and link Port Moody and Coquitlam to the SkyTrain system.  Over 8,000 direct and indirect jobs will be created during construction.

Evergreen Line Rapid Transit Project

The Evergreen Line is a new rapid transit line that will connect Coquitlam to Vancouver via Port Moody and Burnaby. The Evergreen Line will be a fast, frequent and convenient SkyTrain service, connecting Coquitlam City Centre through Port Moody to Lougheed Town Centre in approximately 15 minutes. It will connect without transfer to the current SkyTrain network at Lougheed Town Centre Station and will integrate with regional bus and West Coast Express networks.

Source: BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure

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Metro Vancouver industrial space in demand

Demand for industrial real estate is surging in Metro Vancouver with nearly $37 million in transactions in the first half of the year, according to a report released Monday.

Avison Young’s Summer/Fall 2011 Vancouver Industrial Report concluded that the number of transactions reached its highest point in more than three years as the economy improved and buyers leveraged lower debt to purchase business space for their own use.

“The dynamics now are positive,” Avison Young senior vice-president John Lecky said.

“With the lower cost of capital, a lot of owners are saying that rather than rent, they’d like to secure ownership of their business premises. The cost of debt over the last 15 years has declined, so the ability to purchase is that much easier. The profile of the purchaser is mostly owner-user versus the pure investor.”

Lecky said the trend accentuates the positives for users owning their own working space.

“You can touch it, feel it, and actually use it.”

He noted that there is a lack of large-dollar space available, with most of the activity in the smaller investment transactions. More than three-quarters of the industrial deals completed during the first eight months of 2011 were for less than $2 million.

Citing RealNet Canada, the report by the commercial real estate company concluded that Vancouver’s industrial market recorded 27 transactions valued at $36.8 million during the first half of 2011.

“This total marked the highest first-half dollar volume since 2007 and the greatest number of first-half transactions since 2008,” the report said. “Of those 27 transactions, 11, or just more than 40 per cent, were strata purchases of small-bay units ranging from 1,300 square feet to 4,000 square feet.”

As well, there were 30 transactions worth $41.6 million in Vancouver’s industrial market by the end of August.

The report said the sales were led by the $8.4-million acquisition of a 39,000-square-foot office and warehouse space property at 285 East First in March followed by a $3-million purchase of a 25,000-square-foot warehouse at 496 Alexander St. in April.

Industrial vacancy rose to 3.9 per cent in the spring of 2011 from 3.5 per cent in the fall of 2010, but is expected to tighten by year end because of reduced availability caused by a lack of new development and a constrained land supply.

The report added that some companies may relocate to lower-cost markets in suburban municipalities.

“Vancouver’s industrial lands continue to face ongoing rezoning pressures within city limits despite city hall’s stated intention to preserve such lands.

On the leasing side, the report noted that deals have remained steady, with Acme Analytical Laboratories, a mineral preparation and testing company, leasing one of the largest spaces available in the market, an 82,265-square-foot facility in south Vancouver

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