Housing Market Changing

Friday, October 03, 2008 02:21 PM

Prince George, B.C.- The latest report from the B.C. Northern real Estate Board shows the market is changing. Sales of all properties in the first nine months of the year are down 26% compared to the same period last year. In Prince George, the number of homes sales is down 39% and there were more homes on the market in September compared to the same month last year, and its taking longer for homes to sell.

4,018 properties with a value of $836.6 M have changed hands in the area serviced by the BCNREB compared to 5,425 properties worth $1B. As of September 30th there were 4,879 properties of all types available for sale through the MLS®, up from 3,517 properties listed forsale at September 30th, 2007.

President Willy Berger says “In a changing market like we are currently experiencing in most areas of northern BC, sellers must be aware of local trends. Price and condition of home are currently more applicable than ever, for those sellers who want to sell in a reasonable time period. It is a good market for buyers in most of our communities; a good inventory gives them a bit more time to choose that “dream home”. Dealing with your local REALTOR® who has current market knowledge is in your best interest, whether you’re a buyer or a seller.”

Fraser Fort George Region

In the City of Prince George 1,047 properties worth $225,925,692 have sold through MLS® since the beginning of the year. This is a 39% drop over the number of sales in the first 9 months of 2007, when 1,453 properties had sold for $298M. The average price of the 715 single familyhomes sold in the City was $242,304, up slightly from last year’s average of $239,392. In addition, 28 parcels of vacant, 32 apartments, 25 half duplexes, 73 townhouses, and 46 manufactured homes in parks and a further 45 on land have changed hands this year.

• In the west part of the City, the median price of the 237 homes sold was $214,000 ($222,000 in 2007) while the average sale price was $227,451.

• In the area east of the By-pass, the 131 single family houses that sold had a median price of $179,000 ($175,000 in 2007) and an average sale price of 179,779.

• In the northern part of the City, commonly referred to as “the Hart”, 140 single family homes sold with a median price of $275,000 ($260,000 in 2007) and an average price of $272,091.

• In the southwest section, 194 houses have sold since January, with a median price of $282,000 ($286,000 in 2007) and an average price of $281,573.

In all areas it took, on average, 52 to 56 days for these homes to sell. At the end of September there were 935 properties of all types available for sale in the City of Prince George through MLS®, up from last year’s 751 properties.

In Mackenzie 32 properties worth $3M sold in the first nine months of this year, compared to 39 properties worth $3.9M in 2007. At the end of September there were 120 properties of all types listed through the MLS® in the area, compared to 46 properties at this time last year.

Cariboo Region

In the 100 Mile House area, 370 properties of all types worth $79.1 M changed hands through the MLS® since the first of the year. In the same time period last year, 632 properties worth $117.4M were reported sold by REALTORS® in this area. Half of the 85 single family homes on lots less than an acre sold for $235,000 or less and took, on average, 89 days to sell. In addition, 123 vacant lots, 75 homes on acreage, 13 manufactured homes in parks and 28 manufactured homes on land were sold this year. At the end of September there were 720 properties of all kinds available for sale through the MLS® in the 100 Mile area up from 404 at this time last year.

In the Williams Lake area, 338 properties have changed hands so far this year, down from last year’s 483 recorded sales. The value of these properties was $69.8 M also down from last year’s $92.3 M. 116 single family homes on lots of less than an acre in size have sold in the first 9 months; half of these homes sold for $225,000 or less and too, on average, 69 days to sell. In addition, 58 parcels of land, 6 apartments, 70 homes on acreage, 28 manufactured homes in parks and 31 on land have sold. At the end of September there were 396 properties of all types available for sale through the MLS® in the Williams Lake area up from 308 properties last year.

So far this year, REALTORS® in the Quesnel area assisted in the sale of 261 properties worth $42.8 M. This is down from last year’s 432 sales worth $59.8 M. Half of the 113 single familyhomes on lots of less than an acre, sold for less than $170,000 and took, on

average, 63 days to sell. In addition, 31 parcels of vacant land, 6 townhouses, 38 homes on acreage, 21 manufactured homes in parks and 30 on land have sold in the first nine months of 2008. At the end of September there were 313 properties of all kinds for sale on the MLS® in the area, up from 237 properties last year.

Northwest Region

In Prince Rupert 124 properties of all kinds, worth $24.8 M have sold through the MLS® since January 1st. This is down from last year’s 201 properties worth $35.9 M. 91 single family homes have sold this year, half of which sold for less than $172,500, and which took, on average, 67 days to sell. In addition, 9 parcels of land, 3 apartments, two half duplexes and 2 townhouses have sold this year. As of September 30th there were 307 properties of all types available for sale through the MLS® in the Prince Rupert area up from 163 properties last year.

249 properties worth $46.2M changed hands in the Terrace area in the first nine months of this year. This is down from last year’s 336 sales worth $52.6M. Half of the 139 single family homes on lots less than an acre in size sold for less than $195,000 and took, on average, 51 days to sell. In addition, 25 parcels of vacant land, 7 apartments, 6 half duplexes, 21 homes on acreage and 17 manufactured homes and 20 on land have sold so far this year. At the end of September there were 292 properties of all types available for sale through the MLS® in the Terrace area up from 219 properties last year.

REALTORS® in the Kitimat area have sold 114 properties worth $16.7M so far this year. In the same period last year 151 properties worth $19.4M changed hands. Half of the 69 single family homes sold so far this year sold for less than $172,000 and took, on average, 52 days to sell. In addition, 19 half duplexes, 12 townhouses, 4 homes on acreage and 4 manufactured homes have sold since January 1st. There were 134 properties of all types available for sale in the Kitimat area through MLS®, as of September 30th, up from 58 properties last year.

Bulkley Valley-Omineca Region

In the Houston area, 35 properties worth $4.8M have changed hands through the MLS® in the first nine months, compared with 37 properties worth 4.3M in the same time period last year. At the end of September there were 42 properties of all types available for sale in the Houston area, through MLS® up slightly from 37 properties last year.

191 properties with a value of $40M were sold in the Smithers area in the first nine months of 2008, down from 342 properties worth $54.3 M last year. The 90 single family homes sold this year had a median (half sold for less) price of $217,000 and took, on average, 51 days to sell (down from last year’s average of 75 days). As of September 30th there were 194 properties ofall types available for sale through the MLS® in the Smithers area up from 153 properties last year.

Burns Lake is one of the few areas that showed an increase in sales over last year. In the first nine months of 2008 103 properties worth $11.1M changed hands, up from last year’s 98 units worth $10.7M. 26 single family homes changed hands this year; the median price of these homes was $88,000 and, on average, these homes took 97 days to sell, down from last year’s average of 127 days. At the end of September there were 166 properties of all types available for sale through the MLS® in the Burns Lake area, up from 137 properties last year.

While fewer properties changed hands in the Vanderhoof area this year, their total value was up by 7%. 115 properties worth $20.5M sold in the first nine months of 2008 compared to 143 properties worth $19.2M. Half of the 48 single family homes sold, on lots less than an acre in size, sold for less than $169,500 and took, on average, 51 days to sell. In addition, 16 pieces of vacant land, 26 homes on acreage and 4 manufactured homes in parks and 11 more on land have sold since January 1st. At the end of September there were 128 properties of all types available for sale on the MLS® in the Vanderhoof area, up from 100 properties last year.

There have also been more sales this year in the Fort St. James area. In the first nine months, 49 properties worth $5.1M have sold through the MLS®, up from 40 properties worth $3.47M in the same time period last year. At the end of September there were 74 properties of all types available for sale in the Fort St. James area, through the MLS®, up from 39 properties last year.

Northern Region

The northern region’s real estate market is going strong. In Fort St. John, REALTORS® reported 632 sales with a value of $170.7M, up from last year’s 594 sales worth $147 M. 299 single family homes, with a median price of $287,500, have changed hands this year, with an average time to sell of 60 days (up from last year’s 43 days). In addition, 69 parcels of vacant land, 68 half duplexes, 16 townhouses, 52 homes on acreage and 34 manufactured homes in parks and a further 53 on land have sold this year. There were 539 properties of all kinds for sale through MLS® in the area at the end of September, up from 438 last year.

In the first nine months of 2008, 118 properties worth $24.6M changed hands in the Fort Nelson area. This is up from last year’s 108 properties worth $23.3M. In addition to the 57 single family homes (median price $234,900), 4 parcels of vacant land, 4 half duplexes, 5 townhouses, 6 homes on acreage and 17 manufactured homes in parks and a further 23 on land were sold so far this year. 95 properties of all types were listed through the MLS® in the area, at the end of September, down from 113 last year.

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Posted on Friday, October 03, 2008 02:21 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: MrPG on October 3 2008 3:03 PM

Around here it's better known as 'Too many sellers and not enough buyers syndrome'.

I can't remember ever seeing so many homes for sale as I did this past summer. Where is everybody moving to?

Posted by: Free Enterprise on October 3 2008 4:31 PM

Most people are not moving out of PG but wanting to upgrade(move up) or downsize etc within PG but are in some cases not able to sell their present home first. So until their home sells they can't buy another.

Posted by: camoose on October 3 2008 8:06 PM

So I can expect to see the $600+ city tax increase this year be refunded next year? Ya, and I dream in technicolour. Certainly know who I'm not voting for in November.

Posted by: Runner46 on October 3 2008 10:00 PM

Camoose, I am curious, to get a dollar increase like you have indicated, you would have to had a home in the top 15% of the homes in the City or well over $400,00 in assesed value. If not, I would suggest that you apply to the Board of Revision for Assessments this coming January.

Posted by: MrPG on October 3 2008 10:02 PM

As you (and everyone) knows, the city will adjust mill rates to get whatever property tax amount they need. It's a game that some people win and some lose.

I don't live in an expensive area of town or in an expensive house, so my taxes haven't moved much in the past ten years at least. I know this isn't the case everywhere.

Posted by: camoose on October 4 2008 12:25 AM

My house is just under 1,000 square feet on 2 1/2 acres just inside city limits. I have no city water, sewer, storm sewers or sidewalks. Our paved road is going to pot because the city refuses to patch cracks or potholes. There was no cutting of the grass on the roadsides this year or any ditch maintenance.

Last year my house and property was asessedat $170,500 and i paid a tax of $1633.43. this year my asessment was $267,700 and i paid a tax of $2286. no small increase for a senior on pension.

I wrote e-mails to all councillors and the mayor and received two responses. One from Don Zuroski saying to phone him and one from Shirley Gratton, a copy of which follows;

-Shirley Gratton

This was the e-mail sent to all councillors on the 5th of June 2005:

Posted by: camoose on October 4 2008 12:31 AM

it would appear the post has been edited out. Shirley Gratton said

Posted by: camoose on October 4 2008 12:35 AM

I guess I can't post that way. here is a cut and paste of the e-mail I sent to all Councillors and Shirley gratton's response.

I am not at all pleased with the City of Prince George tax bill I received this week. My home is just under 1,000 square feet on 2 � acres. In the early 1970's we were taken into the city of Prince George but still have no city sewer and water. Nor do we have curbs and gutters and very few and far between street lights. The cracks in the road have not been fixed for at least 10 years and the ditches are not maintaned. It would appear that we pay as much or more tax than those with all the services.

In light of the above I have been hit with a $650 increase in my taxes over last year. That is about a 32% increase. For what? As a pensioner I struggle to keep up with increases in gas, heating oil, groceries, etc. We take pride in our home and enjoy Prince Geoge (36 years) but I can see the day when we will no longer be able to own a home.

I would like an explanation as to why my taxes have taken such a jump over last year.

The way things are going I�m not going to have a problem with who to vote for in the November civic election.

Shirley replied:
Thank you for your concerns with your and mine increase in the taxes. I appreciate your e-mail.

Posted by: camoose on October 4 2008 12:38 AM

Sorry for the screwed up post, but I think I finally got it all straight.

Yours for lower taxes and caring politicians.

Posted by: Eagleone on October 4 2008 2:33 AM

Well its not a buyers market even if we have record amounts of homes for sale. I've been trying to hold out from buying knowing the market is going down... but on a few nice homes I was interested in I've made offers for up to 10% below the list price and have not had any takers. At this point 10% below asking is now too rich for me considering the direction of the markets, and I'm no longer going to play that game anymore. I've decided now I'm going to build on my land outside of city limits and not over pay for a house in city limits where I'll be forced to bailout the city for its horrible fiscal management in the years ahead. A home in PG I think is now too outrageously priced for what you get and a person is far better off in the long run to build their own outside of the city.

Posted by: MrPG on October 4 2008 7:42 AM

Good point Eagle, I think we have a lot of houses for sale by people who don't really have to move, so they're not all that motivated.

And because people don't really have to move, prices haven't come down all that much either.

Posted by: Harbinger on October 4 2008 12:16 PM

As long as I can remember that number at 16 & 97 hasn't changed from 81,000. Hizzoners dream/obsession? Even the census says less. After HE is gone next month can we put a realistic number there? It's the little things ya know.