Richmond realtor's June market report: "price erosion evident as more sellers motivated to reduce prices"

Last month we introduced you to Richmond realtor James Wong.

Mr. Wong was the first of a growing legion of realtors we profiled in the Greater Vancouver area who have been telling you that if you want to sell "deep price cuts are needed."

About the middle of each month, Mr. Wong summarizes the sales data for the real estate market in Richmond and now Mr. Wong is out with his monthly report for June 2012.

And as you will see, the situation in Richmond has declined since May 2012:

Home sales in Richmond for June turned out to be just as lacklustre as in May.

The number of homes sold for the month was 248 which was 8% lower than the previous month sales of 271 homes.

Active listings for detached homes, townhomes and condos/apartments in Richmond at the end of June, 2012 totalled 2,730 units edged 2% higher than the previous month’s total of 2,680.

The month also registered a large number of homes expiring or taken off the market by home sellers.

There are current 9.93 months supply of homes in Richmond. The increase in the supply of homes and slower sales in Richmond continued to put pressure on home sellers to reduce their selling prices. They are hoping that lowering their prices will help in the sale of their homes. Many homes were selling at prices below their city assessment values for 2012.

Richmond real estate market outlook

Both the condo and detached homes markets are facing pricing pressure to go lower. There are more sellers trying to sell than buyers wanting to buy. Higher inventory and adverse media reports are causing buyer concerns and hesitation to buy now. Detached homes are having a much tougher time to attract home buyers.

Homes over $1,000,000 are not seeing much buying interest.

The worse affected by the market slow down are homes (over) $1,300,000. With current level of supply, price erosion is evident as more sellers are motivated to reduce their prices to sell their homes.

Home sellers are taking their homes off the market, or allowing them to go expired unsold.

Sellers who need to sell will have to cut their prices more deeply to attract buyers.

Isn't it funny how the press releases from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) don't seem to paint quite the same picture as this frank assessment by a realtor on the front lines?

Go figure.

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