Here are the weekly statistics for the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver in the week of September 15th 2008 – September 21st, 2008 for my market area of Vancouver East and Vancouver West.

Once again, it’s hard to see a silver lining in the market numbers for the last week. What I can say is that they aren’t as bad as the previous week. At least we saw improvements on most of the important indicators over a disasterous last week.

New listings decreased (-8.26%) while sales dipped slightly (-4.35%). This resulted in a modest rise in the Sell/List ratio (+0.84) back up over the 20% barrier. Of course, this still is quite solidly in Buyer’s Market territory.

I have been expecting active listings to drop down this fall, but the numbers continue to prove me wrong (+3.23%) and they now sit at 5846. The removed listings picked up solidly this past week (+10.26%), but that wasn’t enough to compensate for the big gap between new listings and sales.

New Listings: 533 (-8.26%)
Avg List Price: $819,132 (-4.58%)
New Detached: 163 (-13.30%)
New Attached: 370 (-5.85%)
  
Sales: 110 (-4.35%)
Avg Sale List: $668,171 (+0.67%)
Avg Sale Sell: $638,319 (+1.45%)
Avg Diff: 4.68% (-0.81)
Avg DOM: 53.89 (+5.64)
  
Sell/List: 20.64% (+0.84)
  
Price Change: 353 (+13.14%)
Avg New List: $843,984 (+3.56%)
Avg Old List: $890,027 (+4.08%)
Avg Diff: 5.46% (+0.52)
Avg DOM: 62.98 (+1.75)
  
Removed Listings: 301 (+10.26%)
  
Active Listings: 5846 (+3.23%)

Copyright © 2008 by  Sebastian Albrecht, Vancouver Realtor with Royal LePage Westside ”Weekly Update - Vancouver Real Estate Statistics September 15th - 21st”

The annual Best of Vancouver issue of the Georgia Straight was released last week. This is one of the most interesting issues of the weekly newspaper and for many people, it’s a must read. If you haven’t already picked up a copy, you should before they disappear from newsstands (or save paper and check it out online by visiting www.straight.com).

The Best of Vancouver edition of the Georgia Straight is interesting and insightful. It can help you see your city from different points of view, and if nothing else will likely make you aware of aspects of Vancouver that you never knew existed.

This year’s edition included a category for “Best Real Agency”. In the number three spot was Royal LePage.

http://www.straight.com/article-161994/realestate-agency

Yes, it’s always wonderful to get some public recognition. However, it’s also important for you to know. 

Why? Well, when you are working with an agent you aren’t just hiring the individual but you are also hiring the company behind them. The reputation and standing in the community of both the agent, and their company are components of your success. 

Copyright © 2008 by  Sebastian Albrecht, Vancouver Realtor with Royal LePage Westside ”Royal LePage Voted Best of Vancouver”

Here are the weekly statistics for the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver in the week of September 8th 2008 – September 14th, 2008 for my market area of Vancouver East and Vancouver West.

This was an interesting week. We saw an enormous increase in the new listings (+60.94%). The sales numbers picked back up a bit (+45.57%) after our shortened week last week, but not enough to make up the difference. The result, is that we saw the Sell/List ratio dip once again down to 19.79% (-2.09).

Is there a bright spot that I can find in these Vancouver real estate statistics? Not really, I’m afraid. Even squinting closely at the numbers does me no good. Even Active Listings took a bump up this past week (+4.48%) to 5663.

I had forecast that we should see the Active Listings number begin to drop. Naturally, I was proved wrong this week…but I still have faith in my forecast.

I’ve added a new statistic this week that a few people had requested. It’s Removed Listings. These are all the listings that expired, cancelled or terminated in the previous week.
New Listings: 581 (+60.94%)
Avg List Price: $858,448 (+5.59%)
New Detached: 188 (+89.90%)
New Attached: 393 (+50.00%)

Sales: 115 (+45.57%)
Avg Sale List Price: $663,729 (-7.38%)
Avg Sale Sell Price: $629,199 (-8.18%)
Avg Difference: -5.49% (-0.91)
Avg DOM for Sale: 48.25 (+3.18)

Sell/List Ratio: 19.79% (-2.09)

Price Changes: 312 (+35.65%)
Avg New List Price: $814,939 (-0.96%)
Avg Old List Price: $855,120 (-1.16%)
Avg Difference: 4.93% (-0.22)
Avg DOM for Price Change: 61.23 (-3.62)

Removed Listings: 273 (-36.81%)

Active Listings: 5663 (+4.48%)

Copyright © 2008 by  Sebastian Albrecht, Vancouver Realtor with Royal LePage Westside ”Weekly Update - Vancouver Real Estate Statistics September 8th - 14th”

What exactly IS an expired listing? Just as it sounds, it’s a listing which is dead. Every listing is given a lifespan when a seller and realtor put together a listing contract. The listing goes live on the date that the contract is signed (this is the effective date). The date at which the listing contract terminates (or dies) is the expiry date. 

With a buyers market in Vancouver, we are seeing the return of the much feared Vancouver expired listing. Many of us haven’t seen the prominence of the expired listing for years. In the seller’s market that dominated the market for much of the last seven years, the expired listing was a rare breed.

• 2008 - 2247 (first 8 months)
• 2007 - 2267
• 2006 - 2233
• 2005 - 1748

So far, in the first eight months of 2008 we’ve already had 2247 listings expire. I expect that we will easily see another 50% increase on this number by the end of the year and thus end up surpassing the totals for the last three years.

When your listing expires, you feel a little angry, a little embarrased and quite a bit of frustration. Even the best homes don’t sell sometimes. It’s not time to give up. There are plenty of buyers out there willing to pay full market value for your home.

There can be numerous reasons for an expired listing. To properly understand what went wrong, a real estate agent needs to ask the right questions and listen carefully. As a real estate agent specializing in selling expired listings I know how to help you correct some of those issues and ensure that you meet your goals and make that sale.

If you’d like to ask me a few questions - no pressure, no hassle, no obligation - just a friendly conversation about your plans, please give me a call or send me an email.

Copyright © 2008 by Sebastian Albrecht, Vancouver Realtor with Royal LePage Westside ”What Does Vancouver Expired Listing Mean?”

This is just a quick Vancouver real estate blog today. I’ve been hard at work these last few weeks, putting in a lot of hours to ramp up for the busy fall real estate season. The past few weeks have been quite slow (as you’ve no doubt noticed if you’ve been reading my recent posts on weekly and monthly real estate statistics).

Real estate is a seasonal business, as well as cyclical. It’s important to stay on top of what’s happening in the market. Being in touch with a real estate professional allows you to know exactly what’s happening in the market today. Following my real estate blog will keep you informed and knowledgeable and ready to act in the Vancouver real estate market when the moment is right for you.

Feel free to contact me if you have any specific questions, or if you are ready to buy or sell.

Copyright © 2008 by Sebastian Albrecht, Vancouver Realtor with Royal LePage Westside ”Vancouver Real Estate Blog”

Here are the weekly statistics for the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver in the week of September 1st 2008 – September 7th, 2008 for my market area of Vancouver East and Vancouver West.

Yet another slow week. In fact, this was the worst week that we’ve had in a very long time. I find it next to impossible to find a silver lining in the numbers. However, it was a week that contained the Labour Day weekend and that likely had a heavy influence on slowing down the market for the week (most buyers would have taken that weekend off).

There was another rise in new listings this past week (+5.87%). It’s interesting to note that the bump in this number actually came from the attached side (+11.02%) and not detached (-5.71%). Sales were way off for the second straight week (-30.09%). With new listings rising and sales dropping off, the Sell/List ratio fell to 21.88% solidly in Buyer’s Market territory.

The only relatively bright spot in the statistics was that the Active Listings fell for the third week in a row (and four out of the last five weeks). The drop was relatively small (-1.33%) but it was down nevertheless. I believe we’ve seen the height of the active listings this past summer, and we should see this number stagnate or fall in the coming months.

New Listings: 361 (+5.87%)
Avg List Price: $813,003 (-5.69%)
New Detached: 99 (-5.71%)
New Attached: 262 (11.02%)

Sales: 79 (-30.09%)
Avg Sale List Price: $716,613 (-3.05%)
Avg Sale Sell Price: $685,225 (-3.43%)
Avg Difference: -4.58% (+0.41)
Avg DOM for Sale: 51.43 (+3.58)

Sell/List Ratio: 21.88% (-11.25)

Price Changes: 230 (-4.96%)
Avg New List Price: $822,841 (+0.45%)
Avg Old List Price: $865,185 (+0.55%)
Avg Difference: -5.15 (+0.11)
Avg DOM for Price Change: 64.85 (-6.70)

Active Listings: 5420 (-1.33%)

Copyright © 2008 by Sebastian Albrecht, Vancouver Realtor with Royal LePage Westside ”Weekly Update - Vancouver Real Estate Statistics September 1st - 7th”

Here are the real estate statistics for Vancouver West (Westside) and Vancouver East for the month of August 2008. These statistics are compiled graphically by my office, Royal LePage Westside every month.

The statistics are broken into segments for East and West sides of Vancouver. You’ll find graphs for the median selling price, listing supply, sales demand, and price history.

Vancouver West Real Estate Statisctics - August 2008

Vancouver East Real Estate Statistics - August 2008

Copyright © 2008 by Sebastian Albrecht, Vancouver Realtor with Royal LePage Westside ”Royal LePage Real Estate Statistics Package - Vancouver - August 2008″

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) recently released the statistics package for August 2008. The headline tells the story, “Summer lull sees properties stay on market”. We saw sales down 53.7% % (1,568 vs 3,384) and new listings also fell 1.7% (4,331 vs 4,408).

We are also continuing to see a decline in the benchmark housing prices on a month-to-month basis. Detached properties in Greater Vancouver declined 4.3% since May 2008 and now sit at $737,985. The biggest drop this past month (in my market of Vancouver East and West) was in the Vancouver West Attached properties. These fell -4.85% to $696,507 from July to August 2008. The highlight was Attached properties in Vancouver East rising +4.87% to $530,806.

“In August, properties on average remained on the market longer than we’ve seen in recent years,” REBGV president, Dave Watt said. “As the market heads into the traditionally more active fall season, we have begun to see property listings recede and prices moderate.”

The month of August is traditionally one of the slowest periods of the Vancouver real estate market. It appears that our slow market exacerbated this annual trend. We should see the market begin to pick up coming into the busier Fall season.

While the numbers looked stronger for Vancouver East last month, they have reversed this month. Vancouver West had a much stronger month relatively speaking. Here are some specific numbers for the month of August 2008. The numbers in brackets indicate the month-to-month change for that statistic:

Vancouver West
Sales: 317 (-27.79%)
Listings: 874 (-32.77%)
Sell/List Ratio: 36.27% (+2.50)
Months Supply: 11.52 (+33.97%)
Active Listings: 3651 (-3.26%)
Detached Benchmark: $1,371,663 (-1.36%)
Attached Benchmark: $696,507 (-4.86%)
Apartment Benchmark: $468,812 (-2.75%)

Vancouver East
Sales: 178 (-31.01%)
Listings: 537 (-18.26%)
Sell/List Ratio: 33.15% (-6.12)
Months Supply: 10.70 (+50.31%)
Active Listings: 1904 (+3.70%)
Detached Benchmark: $664,709 (-1.48%)
Attached Benchmark: $530,806 (+4.87%)
Apartment Benchmark: $325,636 (-0.21%)

Copyright © 2008 by Sebastian Albrecht, Vancouver Realtor with Royal LePage Westside ”August 2008 Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver Statistics”

Here are the weekly statistics for the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver in the week of August 25th 2008 – August 31st, 2008 for my market area of Vancouver East and Vancouver West.

Another week of holidays. Not for me, but for just about everyone else in the real estate world. I believe that as a result we saw a very weak week in the real estate market (slower even than last week).

After a strong decline in new listings last week, we saw a more gradual rise (+6.90%) this week. Sales were down quite significantly (-15.04%). The Sell/List ratio took a beating as a result (-8.55%) and sits at 33.14% for the week.

I suspect that what we are seeing in these numbers is a bit of a setup for a busier September. Buyers disappeared for the last few weeks on holidays while we started to see a few listings get listed early for the upcoming Fall season.

Still keeping an eye on the average days on market for sales, we saw it increase this past week up to 47.85 DOM (+5.41). This number has been bouncing around a fair amount lately. If the Fall season starts to pick up (and new listings are being priced more inline with market realities), then we should see this number begin to decline.

Probably the only bright spot in the week was that active listings continued to drop. Once again, it wasn’t a significant move (-0.29%) but it’s a positive direction. As I stated in previous weeks, I suspect that this number should continue to decline as stale listings continue to be removed from the peak we saw in July.

New Listings: 341 (+6.90%)
Avg List Price: $862,045 (+5.01%)
New Detached: 105 (+5.00%)
New Attached: 236 (+7.76%)

Sales: 113 (-15.04%)
Avg Sale List Price: $739,168 (+3.95%)
Avg Sale Sell Price: $709,550 (+4.61%)
Avg Difference: 4.17% (-0.66)
Avg DOM for Sale: 47.85 (+5.41)

Sell/List Ratio: 33.14% (-8.55)

Price Changes: 242 (+0.41%)
Avg New List Price: $819,144 (-9.86%)
Avg Old List Price: $860,432 (-9.00%)
Avg Difference: -5.05 (+0.99)
Avg DOM for Price Change: 71.55 (+12.53)

Active Listings: 5493 (-0.29%)

 Sebastian Albrecht, Vancouver Realtor with Royal LePage Westside