More sales reported for Mrrch, 2009
There are some signs on the Richmond home prices stabalizing. Sales activities over the past few weeks definitely showed significant improvement as the REBGV's March sales data for Richmond picked up further with total sales improved 69% to 337 homes as compared to the previous month sale of 199 homes. On a year-over-year basis, this was a drop of 20% from the 427 homes sold the same month in 2008.
Home sellers and buyers are watching the market closely to see if the market will stabalize.
Will this be a pause before home prices continue going lower? The market remained fairly active with more deals being done these past few weeks.
More severe price decline for older homes
Overall, Richmond home prices dropped in the range of 12% to 15% from their peaks in late 2007. Seasonaly, each year's spring season from March to May is the most active months for real estate sale transactions. An analysis on the sales of older detached homes in Richmond showed that homes under $700,000 declined around 22% from their peaks.
The improvement in the past 2 months' sales helped to improve the supply / demand (list to sale) ratio greatly from 13 to around 9 months at the end of March, 2009. The market is now more balanced, and the slide in home prices may be stabilized for now. The low mortgage rates help to make homes more affordable now. However, many home buyers are finding it difficult to get financing from their banks. This could be due to more stringent under-writing by Canadian banks.
It is still a buyer's market
Whether home prices will hold at the present level, or subject to further price decline will depend on how the supply and demand of homes will play out over the next few months. Homes below $600,000 are in demand with just around 4.5 months supply of homes. The supply for homes above $600,000 is relatively high - at around 10 months supply, and million dollar homes take a much longer time to sell - 13 months supply. Weak sellers for these homes are likely to come under pressure to sell.
My take on the market
Selling pressure will continue to be experienced by home sellers. If more new listings come onto the market and the pace of home sales slow down in the coming months, home prices will continue to decline.
You can read the latest news on Greater Vancouver and Canadian housing reports here.
Use this link to view homes available for sale in Richmond.
Selling your home in 30 days or less in today's market needs careful planning and execution of your marketing plan. You have to understand the market and position your home as a "great deal" to home buyers.