Now is the time to buy a home in Vancouver, according to the region's real estate board, as sales and prices continue to fall.
According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, home sales in Greater Vancouver experienced an overall decline of 69.7 per cent in November compared with the same time last year.
The board said sales dropped to 874 last month from the 2,883 sales recorded in November 2007.
Residential benchmark prices also fell, by 12.8 per cent between May and November 2008. This amounts to an 8.3 per cent year-to-date price reduction for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver between November 2007 and 2008.
In May this year the overall residential benchmark price was $568,411, compared to $495,704 last month.
New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties declined 10.8 per cent to 3,012 in November 2008 compared to November 2007, when 3,377 new units were listed.
Active listings in November declined 4.7 per cent to 18,348 from the 19,257 active listings in Greater Vancouver in October 2008.
Detached properties declined by 69.8 per cent to 322 sold last month, compared with 1,067 units sold in November 2007. The benchmark price for detached properties declined 8.6 per cent from November 2007 to $666,525.
Since May 2008, the benchmark price for a detached property in Greater Vancouver has declined 13.6 per cent.
Condo property sales declined 67.9 per cent last month to 410 compared to 1,276 sales in November 2007. The benchmark price of an apartment property declined 8.6 per cent from November 2007 to $342,315.
Since May 2008, the benchmark price for an apartment property in Greater Vancouver has declined 12.2 per cent.
Attached property sales in November 2008 decreased the most in terms of percentage, with a drop of 73.7 per cent to 142, compared with the 540 sales in November 2007. The benchmark price of an attached unit declined 6.4 per cent between November 2007 and 2008 to $426,287. Since May 2008, the benchmark price for an attached property in Greater Vancouver has declined 11 per cent.
According to Dave Watt, the president of REBGV, these declines are good new for buyers, with an "excellent opportunity to buy quality real estate."
"For those whose personal finances allow them to get involved, there are opportunities in today's housing market that have not been seen in many years," he said.
While the local real estate market has not been immune to the current international economic crisis, Canada's lending structure, which Watt called "disciplined", has allowed the mortgage landscape to remain steady.
