Other
The normally hot June real estate market ran cold this year with residential sales down 17 per cent over 2011 and 15 per cent over 2010.
Single family home sales saw a particular drop, down from 148 in June 2011 to 111 last month.
Realtor Stephen Mullock, who comments on monthly sales on his blog, said June saw an “uncharacteristic softening of sales in the single family housing market.”
Total residential sales volume for June was $56.9 million, down 24 per cent from $74.6 million in June 2011.
Townhouse and apartment sales were virtually unchanged year over year.
Last month’s single family homes sales slumped to 70 per cent of the 10-year average, according to Mullock.
The federal government’s move to reduce the maximum amortization period for a government-insured mortgage from 30 years to 25 years could be a factor in the reduced sales.
Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board (CADREB) president Cynthia Admiraal, however, doesn’t think the rule changes will have much of an effect on the local market.
“Where homes are priced significantly higher than Chilliwack, the down payment needed is correspondingly higher, so buyers there benefit more from a longer amortization,” Admiraal said, in a press release. “These are times when a stable market like ours serves us well.”
Despite the sales numbers, CADREB continued its trend of positively worded press releases- when sales are up it’s a hot market; when they are down it’s a buyer’s market.
There are currently 1,871 residential properties on the market, higher than 2011 or 2010, so there is some merit to the buyer’s market claims.
© Copyright (c) Chilliwack Times