Median prices down $300,000!!

Statistics for the month of March are starting to trickle in.  As we mentioned yesterday, despite banks offering the lowest interest rates in history, March has been a harsh month.

Inventory is the highest it has even been in the month of March. Total sales are 28% below what were recorded in March 2011, the second lowest total in 10 years.

Over on the blog Vancouver Condo Info, the month's stats are being discussed with interest on the following area's that have been supposed stronghold's for Asian buyers:

In West Vancouver it is reported there are 1007 listings with only 113 sales (down from 180 sales).  The most shocking statistic however is that the median price is now down $300,000.

In Richmond 1081 total listings with 63 sales (down from 141) and a drop in the median price of $100,000.

On the West Side of the City of Vancouver of the 476 listings, there were only 57 sales and a drop in the median price of $300,000.

West side realtor Larry Yatkowsky described the Vancouver situation as "loaded with listings, lacking with sales and falling prices."

Yatkowsky cautions that this story still has a ways to play out and we agree. But so far the Spring market is  starting out as a bust.

Mind you, those 120 day guarentees on last month's 2.99% bank mortgage offering are still out there.

On the other hand, as the Vancouver Sun reports, although there are record low interest rates available with record high inventory available at this time of year, more than half the people surveyed don't believe that it's a good time to buy.

And that consumer uncertainty will almost certainly continue to be reflected in sales figures.

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March 2012 Real Estate Sales

March 2012 was an interesting month for our real estate bubble here on the Wet Coast.

With another go at the lowest interest rates in history, there were some expectations that the second half of March might see a resurgent rise in sales to rescue what was shaping up to dismal month.

And in some ways there was.  Sales did rise, but not enough to do anything but put lipstick on a pig of a month.

Total sales for March came in at 2,934 units sold and total listings surged in March by 1,386 and total inventory now sits at 16,298 (up from 10,671 at the start of the year).

This is a historic high Inventory level for the month of March.

The sales totals are 28% below what were recorded in March 2011. This is the second lowest total in 10 years (2009 was the worst with 2,265).

Meanwhile early updates from West Vancouver, courtesy of Larry Yatkowsky (and hat tip to Makaya), show that West Vancouver had a horrible month.

Homes in the HAM (Hot Asian Money) hotbed on the North Shore have their average price down 7.9% and the median price down 13.6%... in only one month.

March now joins January and February as horrid months for R/E sales in the Village on the Edge of the Rainforest.

Will the Spring Market be a no-show this year?

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Tues Post#1: Turmoil?

Anyone who is old enough to remember the 1970s and 1980s will remember the rise of Japan as an economic force in the world.

And as the rising sun exerted it's economic power, wealthy Japanese were buying real estate everywhere. As improbable as it seems today, people were confident the Japanese financial taps would never be closed.

How quaint to recall this today as the Japanese miracle is in tatters and China is the economic force from the far east.

But now the China miracle is in doubt.  And as the Chinese government attempts to engineer their own 'soft landing' in real estate, HAM is evaporating before our eyes.

Which brings us to an interesting tidbit over on Realtor Larry Yatkowsky's site yesterday. Yatkowsky was moved to note that:

"Current informal coffee chats with some of my fellow Vancouver Realtors suggest a market in turmoil."

By 'turmoil', I presume Yatkowsky means 'no sales'.

Early March data from Richmond suggests there are 1,000 houses for sale in the previous HAM hotbed of Richmond with only 80 sold so far this month. This is a profound drop from the approximately 220 sold in each of March 2011 and 2010.

Presumably the other HAM hotbed of Vancouver is suffering just as severely.

Webster's defines 'turmoil' as "a state or condition of extreme confusion, agitation, or commotion." No offense, but that's how I would have described the market from 2003-2011.

Personally I think events this month suggest that this is a market withering in the throes of rationality.

It's all about perspective, I guess.

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