Effects from the Lower Mainland’s red-hot real estate market continue to ripple through the North Fraser region, according to statistics from the area’s realtors network.
Benchmark prices climbed again last month for all types of homes in the Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows markets.
The composite benchmark price for property in Maple Ridge jumped 5.3 per cent – from December 2015 to January 2016 – to $466,200, while in Pitt Meadows it jumped 3.7 per cent to $454,900 over the same month.
Those composite benchmark prices represent increases of 17.1 and 12.2 per cent, respectively, over the previous year.
“Fundamental economics are driving today’s market,” says Darcy McLeod, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
“Home buyer demand is at near record heights and home seller supply is as low as we’ve seen in many years.”
McLeod said home buyer activity remains at near record levels across the Metro Vancouver housing market.
The number of total property sales in the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows area remained steady over the month, going from 187 in December 2015 to 176 in January.
But last month’s property sales represent a 53 per cent jump in the number of home sales over the 122 sales in January 2015.
While most of those sales were detached homes, which went from 79 in January 2015 to 111 last month, the highest jump in benchmark price was among Maple Ridge condominiums.
The benchmark price for a Maple Ridge condo jumped 22 per cent over the previous month, to $202,800. That also represents a 22.8 per cent rise over the January 2015 benchmark price for Maple Ridge condo.
The benchmark price of detached homes in the region also continued to climb with homes in Maple Ridge pegged at $560,900 and homes in Pitt Meadows priced at $632,100.
The Maple Ridge detached home benchmark price is a 2.6 per cent rise over December and a 16.6 per cent increase since January 2015.
In the past 10 years, the benchmark price for a Maple Ridge detached home has jumped 47.4 per cent (from $380,530).
The Pitt Meadows detached home benchmark price is up 4.3 per cent from December and a 18.5 per cent from since January 2015.
In the past decade the benchmark price for a Pitt Meadows detached home has jumped 62.8 per cent (from $388,268).
The Maple Ridge townhouse benchmark price jumped 6.6 per cent in a month to 323,300, while the Pitt Meadows townhouse benchmark price rose slightly (0.4 per cent) to $379,500.
The benchmark price for a Pitt Meadows condo rose 5.9 per cent to $258,200.
The total number of listings in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows rose 155 per cent in the past month, from 127 in December to 324 last month.
That is a 15 per cent jump from the 282 listings in January 2015.
The percentage of sales to listings in January was: 63 per cent for detached homes, 67 per cent for attached homes, and 30 per cent for condos.
New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in the entire Greater Vancouver region totaled 4,442 in January 2016 — a 6.2 per cent decline compared to the 4,737 units listed in January 2015 and a 119.8 per cent increase compared to December 2015 when 2,021 properties were listed.
Generally, analysts say that downward pressure on home prices occurs when the ratio dips below the 12 per cent mark, while home prices often experience upward pressure when it reaches the 20-22 per cent range in a particular community for a sustained period of time.
Kevin Gillies is a freelance writer
for Black Press.