Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Outside In

The spin continues - from the Chilliwack Area Real Estate Board:

Average residential prices continue to rise in Chilliwack region

Total MLS® sales activity showed an increase in most categories this March in the area served by the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board, according to statistics released by the Board.The Board's MLS® system recorded $75,388,928 worth of sales this March. That's a two per cent increase from Februarys' total, and a decrease of 17 per cent from the total in March 2007.

A total of 222 properties traded hands through the Board's MLS® system in March 2008, which is six per cent higher than the total from February and 29 per cent fewer than in March 2007.“

Average residential price continues to be the story this month,” said Board President Trude Kafka. “Properties are selling at prices that are six per cent higher this month than they were last.”

The total value of home sales recorded through the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board's MLS® system this March was $69,463,410 – which is even with Februarys' total, and 18 per cent lower than March 2007.In all, 206 homes were sold through the Board's MLS® system this March. That's six per cent less than in February, and 29 per cent less than last March.The average price of homes sold through the Board's MLS® system this March was $319,503, which is one per cent more than Februarys' average and 13 per cent higher than the average from March 2007. The Board cautions that the average residential price is a useful figure only for establishing trends and comparisons over a period of time. It does not indicate an actual price for a home due to the wide selection of housing available in the area.

A total of 521 new residential listings were added to the Board's MLS® system this March, an 18 per cent jump from February 2008. As the month came to an end, there were 1,484 active residential listings on the Board's MLS® system.


The Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board is an association of 283 REALTORS® that provides services to and sets standards for members. The Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board serves Chilliwack, Agassiz, Hope, Boston Bar and Harrison.

From www.cadreb.com.

The story is that there are a total of 2043 pieces of real estate for sale in the CADREB area and only 222 of them sold during March for 9.2 total months of inventory. There were 606 new listings during the month for a sell / list ratio of 0.36.

13 comments:

mohican said...

I really like how they focus on the average resale price to deflect attention away from the 9+ months of inventory currently available that is currently expanding at an unbelievable pace.

Craig said...

Kafka is an apt name for the board president. Because the alternate reality of their release is certainly Kafkaesque.

Warren said...

Nice wording on that release. The limited amount they actually talk about YOY changes is telling.

jesse said...

These numbers are certainly a chilly whack to the face...

Realtors are going to feel this considering the marketing and overhead costs of adding new listings are only paid upon successful sales. 9.1 MOI seems high for a "balanced" market.

I equate times like this to Relators as nurses and sellers as casualties in a WW1 army field hospitals when the first wave of casualties come in. Overwhelmed with listings, Realtors do triage and the listings that sit are really being left to die. Not that the Realtors will tell you that.

Mathematical said...

9 months of inventory! Looks like the party is getting bigger ever day.

Nancy said...

The Real Estate Boom is Officially Over - Globe & Mail

http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080417.wcrea0417/BNStory/Business/home

Anonymous said...
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markoz said...

DON"T CLICK ON GALMARAN! It is a spam for a "virus protection" program that downloads even when you click "cancel". I'm on a Mac but I'm not sure how it will affect the rest of you.

oh please said...

These are interesting times. While inventory growth has been steady in Vancouver, it's leveled off in N. Van, Langley, Abbotsford and Chilliwack. Does anyone have current sell/list ratios for the valley? Whatever else is happening it sure doesn't look like a rush to the exits, at least not yet.

And if/when the rush comes, I wonder if it'll be the buyers rushing to the exits, not the sellers.

mohican said...

oh please - I don't know where you are getting the impression that listings are levelling off. Everywhere I look there are new for sale signs popping up and there are more and more new homes coming onto the market.

I have also noticed many more price reductions of late.

oh please said...

Mohican - I'm getting my FV numbers from MLS.ca, searching on detached homes only (detached condos included, of which there aren't many). FV and NV numbers are from Paul's blog and include all listings.

I've been disappointed to see MLS FV SFH listings leveling off - I really want to see this sucker come to an inglorious end sooner rather than later. But right now the only explanation I have for the SFH numbers on MLS is that whoever posts the listings is way, way behind. I suppose that's possible, but I'm not sure it's plausible, given that the situation has been this way for a couple of weeks now. You'd think realtors would be up in arms.

I suppose another explanation is that the growth in the FV is now mainly in condos for sale - I haven't been following that number.

oh please said...

Ask and ye shall receive! After a dead week the FV just got a nice bump in SFH listings, at least the parts I watch.

J.Son said...

I don't see why this is happening in Chilliwack... everybody wants to live there, they're running out of land, and they have the Olympics (an hour and a half drive away for 2 weeks, 2 years from now).