Pace of condo presales slows, but numbers remaining high in Metro Vancouver – Greater Vancouver Real Estate News July 2012
The number of new concrete condos launched in Metro Vancouver has been strong for the first six months of 2012, but not nearly as strong as earlier forecasts.
Real estate market firm MPC Intelligence had predicted in April that 7,800 new condos in concrete towers would be introduced to the market for sale in the first six months. That was down from an earlier prediction of 8,000.
However, MPC said that by the end of June only 6,000 new concrete condominiums had been launched in the region.
“A large component came to the market, but we may have overshot it a bit,” MPC senior manager Jeff Hancock said in an interview. “We were on pace until the end of the first quarter, but some projects ended up postponing.”
Despite that, Hancock said that the 6,000 new condos  in 31 condo projects  still represent the busiest six months MPC has recorded in concrete product since its inception in 2005.
“Six thousand is a significant number,” he noted. “Since we’ve been tracking, it’s the most we’ve seen in two quarters.”
Hancock said the pace of pre-sales has slowed in the last two months, but he expects a “large wave” of new launches in the fall.
Hancock attributes the slowdown to developers postponing projects because of market conditions, and some projects being delayed in the approvals process.
He said projects priced right and in the right location  near rapid transit  are doing well, citing strong sales at the Solo District condo project in Burnaby that started pre-sales this past weekend.
Hancock noted that 55 per cent of the concrete condos introduced to the market this year have been sold, with most sales in the first quarter and “the second quarter showing slower uptake.”
He also said it’s “too early to tell” if the slowing resale market is a factor in developers delaying projects.
According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s June 2012 housing starts survey, which includes all types of housing, there were 9,907 starts in Metro Vancouver from the beginning of January to the end of June 2012, 17 per cent more than the 8,472 starts in the first six months of 2011.
“Overall, apartment housing starts were strong in June, particularly in the cities of Vancouver, Coquitlam and Langley,” CMHC senior market analyst Robyn Adamache said in a statement.
Meanwhile, more than 70 per cent of the 187 homes available for presales at the 23-storey Rolston, in the 1300-block Granville, have sold, while close to 80 per cent of the 303 available homes have sold at The Mark, 1372 Seymour.
If you have any real estate questions or if you are thinking of buying or selling your home, please contact James Louie Chung, Greater Vancouver REALTOR® — Real Estate Agent at [email protected] or call / text ( 6 0 4 ) 7 1 9 — 6 3 2 8 today!
Connect with James on Facebook, Twitter and Google +.
Source, Image: Vancouver Sun, Design.Shuffle
