By Kevin Gillies
Contributor
May real estate board numbers show that benchmark housing price growth in Pitt Meadows continues to outpace Maple Ridge, while both markets, and the entire region, continue to experience one of the best spring real estate markets in years.
And the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says a hot spring Metro Vancouver real estate market continues to put upward pressure on home prices, particularly in the detached home market.
The benchmark price for a single-family detached home in Pitt Meadows in May jumped 2.6 per cent — to $554,100 — from the previous month; and 10.2 per cent a year ago.
By comparison, the benchmark price for a single-family detached home in Maple Ridge jumped 2.2 per cent to $499,100 from April; and 6.8 per cent a year ago.
Similar jumps in housing sales prices are being reported around the entire Greater Vancouver region.
“We continue to see strong competition for homes that are priced right for today’s market,” Darcy McLeod, REBGV president said.
“It’s important to remember that real estate is hyper local, particularly in a seller’s market. This means that conditions and prices vary depending on property type, neighbourhood, and other factors.”
The sales-to-active-listings ratio in May was 32.9 per cent, which is the highest the ratio has been in Metro Vancouver since June 2007 and indicates a hot spring housing market.
Locally, the single-family detached house market is doing better than townhouse and apartment markets in the North Fraser area, although Pitt Meadows prices continue to outpace growth in Maple Ridge’s townhouse and apartment markets.
The benchmark price for a Pitt Meadows townhouse grew 2.1 per cent to $359,600 since April, and by 9.6 per cent over the past year.
By comparison, the benchmark price for a Maple Ridge townhouse actually dropped 2.2 per cent since April — to $278,500; but grew a marginal 0.3 per cent since a year ago.
The local apartment market numbers showed a slight increase in benchmark prices, with Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge prices increasing by 2.1 and 1.1 per cent respectively over the past month.
The benchmark price for a Pitt Meadows apartment was $258,200 while a Maple Ridge apartment went for $173,800.
Over the past year Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge benchmark apartment prices increased by 7.1 and 3.9 per cent respectively.
The number of single-family detached home listings in Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge dropped from 250 in April to 210 in May.
The MLS Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver is currently $684,400, which represents a 9.4 per cent increase compared to May 2014.
“While the supply of homes for sale remains below what’s typical for this time of year, our region continues to offer a diverse selection of housing options at different price points,” McLeod said. “This diversity within the housing stock is part of what’s driving today’s home sale activity.”
New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Metro Vancouver totaled 5,641 in May; representing a five per cent decrease compared to the 5,936 new listings reported in May 2014.
The total number of properties currently listed for sale on the region’s MLS is 12,336, a 23.2 per cent decline compared to May 2014 and a 0.8 per cent decline compared to April 2015.
McLeod said that Metro Vancouver home sales surpassed 4,000 in May for third consecutive month.
Besides local markets, the REBGV numbers also include properties in Whistler, Sunshine Coast, Squamish, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Richmond, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam, New Westminster and South Delta.
Kevin Gillies is a freelance writer for Black Press.