The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that the number of residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 2,255 in July 2010. This represents a 45.2 percent decline from the 4,114 sales in July 2009, the highest selling July ever recorded, and a 24.1 percent decline compared to June 2010.

Looking back further, last month’s residential sales represent a 3.7 percent increase over the 2,174 residential sales in July 2008, a 41.8 percent decline compared to July 2007’s 3,873 sales, and a 17.5 percent decline compared to July 2006’s 2,732 sales.

“With the pace of home sales and listings easing off in our market, we’ve begun to see a levelling of home prices from the record highs seen in the spring, creating greater affordability,” Jake Moldowan, REBGV president said. “Activity in today’s marketplace is clearly trending in favour of buyers.”

The number of properties listed for sale on the market has been trending downward since spring, with 4,138 new listings in July compared to April’s peak of 7,648. New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) declined 17.9 percent in July 2010 compared to July 2009, when 5,041 properties were listed for sale.

At 16,431, the total number of property listings on the MLS® in July declined 6.5 per cent compared to last month and increased 33 percent compared to July 2009.

“It’s currently taking home sellers who work with a REALTOR®, on average, 45 days to sell their property, which is a historically healthy timeframe for people on both sides of a transaction,” Moldowan said.

Since spring, housing prices have decreased 2.8 percent compared to the all-time high reached in April when the residential benchmark price was $593,419. Over the last 12 months, the MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver increased 9.1 percent to $577,074 in July 2010 from $528,821 in July 2009.

Sales of detached properties in July 2010 reached 908, a decrease of 43.7 percent from the 1,614 detached sales recorded in July 2009 and a 9.8 percent increase from the 827 units sold in July 2008. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 11.5 percent from July 2009 to $793,193.

Sales of apartment properties reached 979 in July 2010, a decline of 42.7 percent compared to the 1,708 sales in July 2009 and an increase of 1.3 percent compared to the 966 sales in July 2008.The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 6.2 percent from July 2009 to $387,879.

Attached property sales in July 2010 totalled 368, a decline of 53.5 percent compared to the 792 sales in July 2009 and a 3.4 percent decline from the 381 attached properties sold in July 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 8.6 percent between July 2009 and 2010 to $490,995.

DIY Days from Sabi Pictures on Vimeo.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 3,512 in April 2010, the fifth highest-selling April on record. The figure represents an increase of 18.5 percent compared to the 2,963 sales in April 2009; 9.1 percent more than April 2008’s 3,218 sales; and 3.7 percent more than April 2007’s 3,387 sales. April 2010 sales also represent a 12 percent increase compared to last month.

“We’re in the midst of another strong spring season thanks to high levels of activity on both the buyer and seller side of our market,” Jake Moldowan, REBGV president said. “The number of homes coming on the market has increased significantly in recent months, which is providing a healthy level of choice for those looking to buy during this busy period.”

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 7,648 in April 2010, a 64.5 percent increase compared to April 2009 when 4,649 new units were listed, and a 9.2 percent increase compared to March 2010 when 7,004 properties were added to the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®).

At 15,901, the total number of property listings on the MLS® increased 17 percent in April compared to last month, and is up 11 percent compared to this time last year.

Over the last 12 months, the MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver increased 18.9 percent to $593,419 from $499,021 in April 2009.

“It was at this time last year when home prices in our region began their recovery from the declines that occurred during the recession period,” Moldowan said.

Sales of detached properties in April 2010 reached 1,370, an increase of 15.1 percent from the 1,190 detached sales recorded in April 2009 and a six percent increase from the 1,293 units sold in April 2008. The benchmark price for detached properties increased 21.2 per cent from April 2009 to $818,403.

Sales of apartment properties reached 1,526 in April 2010, an increase of 29.4 percent compared to the 1,179 sales in April 2009 and an increase of 15.9 percent compared to the 1,317 sales in April 2008.The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 16.9 percent from April 2009 to $397,779.

Attached property sales in April 2010 totalled 616, an increase of 3.7 percent compared to the 594 sales in April 2009 and a 1.3 percent increase from the 608 attached properties sold in April 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 16.4 percent between April 2009 and 2010 to $502,399. ~Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver

Crazy going outside on a BC Ferry during a storm like this but you only live once.

A little too busy to be riding a tandem bike and holding a video camera in one hand but I like the challenge.

Spring comes early with cherry blossoms blooming and a clear blue sky but winter is alive and well fresh snow on the mountains. I’m not complaining.

A video blog of me ranting on about spandex cycle wear.

I’m not sure why so many cyclist dress in spandex like they’re in some bike race when clearly they are just communting to work. Perhaps they are racers in their spare time and it’s habit to but on the full regalia.

Stripped down to its bare cold bones, the Olympics, simply put, is a world sized party. A party that no wedding planner or online event organizer could ever imagine putting together in their wildest wet business dreams. It’s a party that’s been planned again and again for a long long time. O.K., it’s history is fuzzy so blur your eyes. It’s still been going a long time. It’s only because of it’s ongoing history that it is possible at the scale it is today. It’s only because of its shear size that it is the way it is.

Who doesn’t like a party? If you left town then it must be you. You don’t like a party. Maybe you just don’t want the party in your house. Maybe you went to Mexico and delivered your tourist dollars there were they get distributed to the disenfranchised… oh wait.

Maybe you didn’t leave town. Maybe just sat there and complained about crowds of people who (how dare they) were enjoying themselves aimlessly walking around. Perhaps you might try aimlessly walking around sometime, it’s a lot of fun. How was your commute? did it affect you you you?

Fun was always having an event to watch and root for. Fun shows and events put on for free and popping up everywhere magically. Fun was learning more about my country. Fun was accidentally walking into a giant crowd of happy people – all the time. Fun was being a part of the elation that built in an ever increasing momentum – because I let it happen to me.

I think that’s the difference. I let it happen. If you’re pissed off you will remain so because you need to be right.

To be honest, I voted not to have the Olympics here. I could, (and still can) see all the issues it brings. I lost that vote. Are we better off? who cares? nothing can be done about that. I know that party will have a hang over. I know we need to clean up. I know.

Yea, it’s easy to critisize and point to everything wrong with the Olympics. I am surrounded by these people. It’s easy to say in loud online voices how you hate the people “invading”, hate the organizers, hate money being spent for anything other than healthcare, schools, the arts, and any other special cause that personally affects you. In reality, there never is enough money for those programs. There never will be – ever. Let’s talk about that some other time.

What’s hard for some is being happy because in their minds, happiness equals stupidity. Happiness has a bad reputation among pissed off people. Let’s talk about that next time.

I am so glad I experienced an Olympics in my town.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that the number of residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 3,524 in May 2009, an increase of 17.4 per cent from the 3,002 sales recorded in May 2008, and an increase of 18.9 per cent compared to last month.

Since the beginning of the year, the MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver has increased 4.5 per cent to $506,201 from $484,211. However, home prices compared to May 2008 levels are down 10.9 per cent.

“The increased level of buyer activity over the last few months has had a stabilizing effect on home prices across our region,” Scott Russell, REBGV president said. “MLS® data continues to show a trend toward a balanced market in the region.”

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties declined in Greater Vancouver, down 36 per cent to 4,733 in May 2009 compared to May 2008, when 7,390 new units were listed. At 13,641, the total number of property listings on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) declined 4.7 per cent compared to last month and 16 per cent compared to May 2008.

Sales of detached properties increased 16.5 per cent to 1,402 from the 1,203 detached sales recorded during the same period in 2008. The HPI benchmark price for detached properties declined 11.8 per cent from May 2008 to $680,320.

Sales of apartment properties in May 2009 increased 17.2 per cent to 1,458, compared to 1,244 sales in May 2008. The benchmark price of an apartment property declined 10.2 per cent from May 2008 to $349,987.

Attached property sales in May 2009 are up 19.6 per cent to 664, compared with the 555 sales in May 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit decreased 9 per cent between May 2008 and 2009 to $435,848.