The Market Today …

We'll have to call 2009 the "Year of the Rebound." After a very slow start—with prices down over 15% on average—we ended December with both unit volume and average prices pretty much back to full strength.

In the entire Greater Vancouver trading area (covering Squamish to Maple Ridge and South Delta) only Squamish houses and West Vancouver condos are still lower in price than they were a year ago (down 3.2% and 5.6% respectively). Big winner was Port Moody houses (up 30.7% over Dec. a year ago), and houses on Vancouver's West Side (up 30.2%).

The five year trend is even better, with most areas up between 40% and 65%.

Continued low mortgage rates are helping to support the market, as is growing demand driven by steady population increase. And we have (at the end of Dec.'09) a relatively low number of homes listed for sale – 40% fewer than at the end of 2008; since 1997 there's been only 3 times we had fewer homes for sale at year end.