If you’re looking to sell your home, it will help a lot if it’s in Pitt Meadows.
The city currently has four of the top seven highest selling neighbourhoods in the past six months, according to the Multiple Listing Service.
The various neighbourhoods in Pitt Meadows are the most popular, with the mid-Meadows zone (south of Lougheed Highway and east of Harris Road), ranking first in all of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, with 59 per cent of its listings (53 out of 90) selling since October.
South Meadows (the Bonson area) was also popular, with 41 per cent of homes (31 out of 75) selling, making it the third hottest neighbourhood in the two communities.
West Meadows and Central Meadows also ranked high, at 40 per cent (tied for fourth) and 36 per cent (sixth), respectively.
In Maple Ridge, the hottest neighbourhood is the northwest sector (just east of Meadow Gardens Golf Course), second with slightly more than 42 per cent of listed homes selling over the past six months (42 out of 102).
Cottonwood came in at 40 per cent (tied for fourth), and East Central Maple Ridge (224 to 232 streets) is the fifth best market in terms of sales at 39 per cent.
That the various Pitt Meadows neighbourhoods are amongst the leaders is no surprise to Debbie Sheppard, a veteran realtor at the Re/Max Lifestyles office. She says Pitt Meadows always sells well because the price point is usually right for people moving east in Metro Vancouver.
The Highlands/Wildwood Park area, in particular, is a favourite for people looking for a good family home in a nice neighbourhood at the right price.
Sheppard polled other realtors on a recent MLS tour and about hot selling neighbourhoods. The consensus was Pitt Meadows, Albion, west-central Maple Ridge, Somerset and northwest Maple Ridge.
Jamie Luttmer, managing broker at Coldwell Banker Tri-Tel Realty, concurred.
He added that east-central Maple Ridge is also popular because it’s a good, solid area for anyone who wants to keep the price down while still getting a decent home.
“Basically, if the condition of the product is good, and the price is good, it’s going to sell,” said Luttmer.
He noted average prices have dropped slightly in recent months, about one per cent by his estimation.
Sheppard stated anything in the $400,000-$450,000 price range has been most popular lately. She said things have been picking up in the past month, but added people still aren’t confident enough to purchase.
“January and February, I had tonnes of people through my open houses, although few of them were making decisions. Lower mortgage rates are going to help, especially with first time buyers who have been scarce recently.”
If you’re looking for acreage, and you have the money, now is a terrific time to buy, according to Luttmer.
He stated there are some good deals on acreages right now because they’ve taken a real hit in terms of prices as people who dream about owning acreage find they can’t afford the dream in today’s market, and those who want to sell can’t find buyers at the price point they want.