Vancouver’s April Stats Don’t Lie
Posted May 2nd, 2012 in Real Estate, Sharing the Experience | 
April Showers
Someone once said that April Showers will bring May’s flowers. That must have been a long time ago and was before global warming, low interest rates and stratospheric Vancouver home prices.
Someone also said that ‘Stats Don’t Lie’ and according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver our market has maintained a consistent pace with balanced conditions. With that feel good statement let’s cast aside negative thoughts as we ready ourselves for May’s bloom. In the interim lets have a look to see what a consistent balanced condition looks like in numbers.
April Highlights
Sales:
- property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 2,799 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in April 2012. This represents a 13.2 per cent decline compared to the 3,225 sales recorded in April 2011 and a decline of 2.6 per cent compared to the 2,874 sales in March 2012.
- April sales were the lowest total for the month in the region since 2001 and 16.9 per cent below the 10-year April sales average of 3,369.
PPS – Positive President Spin
“Although April sales were below what’s typical for the month, we continue to see, with a sales-to-active listing ratio of nearly 17 per cent, a balanced relationship between buyer demand and seller supply in our marketplace,” – Eugen Klein, REBGV President.
Listings
- New Listings – all segments totalled 6,056 in April 2012 – up 3.6 per cent from March 2012
- New Listings Last month up 6.7 per cent above the 10-year average April
- Total Active Listings – 16,538, up 8.5 per cent compared to last month
- up 16 per cent from this time last year
MLS® HPI benchmark
- Vancouver Price = $683,800 – up 3.7 per cent compared to April 2011
- Up 2.8 per cent over the last three months.
- *Lower Mainland benchmark price = $612,000 – up 3.4 per cent compared to April 2011
Detached Sales
- Down – Total = 1,126, a decline of 19.7 per cent
- Benchmark price up 6.3 per cent from April 2011 to $1,064,800
Apartment Sales
- Down – Total = 1,190 a decline of 0.9 per cent
- Benchmark price up 1.1 per cent from April 2011 to $375,900.
Townhome
- Down – Total = 483, a decline of 22.3 per cent
- Benchmark price up 1.7 per cent between April 2011 and 2012 to $487,300
Information Courtesy The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver
Full Report Here
Larry – any particular reason that your Detached SFH stats showed a $100k decline, but the “benchmark” shows a YOY increase in average price?
@stats
I presume you are referring to average price of yesterday vs HPI. Simple answer is different calculation.
@Larry – my email I correct – would e great to grab that PDF.
Honestly, it seems to me that the REBGV is playing with stats. What’s that saying “lies, damn lies and statistics”
I wish there were more transparency with the raw data. All we get is data from a biased body.
Thanks again!
To clarify – I think the REBGV is biased (not necessarily you)
It is really weird. The sales and average price that cannot be distorted by REBGV all show negative signs for the market. Only the benchmark price that no body knows how it is calculated by REBGV shows a highest price ever.
Frankly, REBGV is not willing to see a price decrease.
@pop smith
average and HPI are not the same
The new hpi stats was brought in to show a less volatile stat. So in other words, to confuse people in thinking the market is stable. But in the real world, prices are coming down. This is to slow the correction so that people won’t freak out and think this puppy is gonna go “Boom”!.
@Bubbles
maybe it’s the ‘soft landing’
I can only surmise that you have insider knowledge of that devious ‘let’s hide it and not tell them’ committee.