Derrick Penner
Sun
A rise in inventory in Metro Vancouver should see prices come off highs, Royal LePage says. Photograph by: Reuters files
METRO VANCOUVER – Expect a slowing of property sales in an environment with more inventory over the balance of this year to take out some of the price gains sellers experienced in the first part of 2010’s real estate market according to realtor Royal LePage.
Royal LePage, in its second-quarter forecast, said sales in Metro Vancouver were “front loaded” into the first half of 2010, driving prices to new highs.
A rise in inventory, however, should see prices come off those highs, Royal LePage estimates, with the region’s average price across all property types to slip to $650,000 by the end of 2010 from a second-quarter high of $669,000.
That price, however, will still be almost 10 per cent higher than Metro Vancouver’s average price across all types at the end of 2009.
“Inventory is increasing, and that’s what drives prices,” Chris Simmons, broker and owner of Royal LePage Westside said in a news release. “The number of available listings is the most important statistic out there.”
Despite a busy spring, Royal LePage said in the report, Metro Vancouver homes “generally sold below asking price in the second quarter.”
In Metro Vancouver, Royal LePage calculated that the average price for a Metro Vancouver detached bungalow hit $905,000 in the second quarter, up 19 per cent from the same period a year ago.
The average for a basic two-storey house hit $995,250 in the second quarter, Royal LePage found, up 17.6 per cent.
The price for a typical condominium hit $487,250, up 16.6 per cent from the same period a year ago.
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