Joannah Connolly
Other
Home prices increased year over year across all Vancouver housing types in 2014’s second quarter, and will rise 7.1 per cent in the rest of the year, according to the Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast released July 9.
The average price for single-family homes increased the most, with detached bungalows increasing 5.2 per cent year-over-year to $1,107,290 and standard two-storey homes increasing 4.6 per cent to $1,204,011. Condo prices remained largely flat, increasing by 0.3 per cent year-over-year to $491,984.
This compares with the national average price increase of between 3.9 and 5.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2014. According to Royal LePage, detached bungalows posted the highest year-over-year gains across Canada, rising 5.2 per cent to an average price of $406,454. Standard two-storey homes rose 5.1 per cent year-over-year to $440,972, while standard condos increased 3.9 per cent to $258,501.
“Prices in Vancouver are up overall because increased buying activity, due to continued low interest rates and a pent up demand leftover from a fairly slow start to 2014,” said Bill Binnie, broker and owner of Royal LePage North Shore.
“Sales are up this quarter due to more demand than we’ve seen in at least the past three years.”
Chris Simmons, broker and owner of Royal LePage Westside, said, “Detached homes have increased in price by about 4 to 5 per cent, largely due to a diminishing supply of homes because of land assemblies for new strata projects and sky train projects and a strong continuing demand.
“Condos are also up in price, appreciating approximately 1 per cent over last year. There is still strong demand for condos, but the supply is continuously growing, leading to a slower increase in price appreciation.”
Simmons said housing inventory in Vancouver is sitting below the 10-year average.
“While there has been a steady supply of new housing being built over the last few years, the supply of listings has not increased markedly,” he said.
Royal LePage forecasts that home prices in Vancouver will rise by approximately 7.1 per cent in the remainder of 2014.
“The real estate environment is very stable right now, so the future of house prices depends a lot on interest rates. If the rates remain the same as they are currently, we can expect to see slow but steady price appreciation for the rest of the year,” said Binnie.
© 2014 Real Estate Weekly
