This Greater Vancouver Condominium Market Overview for 2012 was compiled by Strategics, a Vancouver-based company providing information and analysis since 1981 helping to minimize marketing risk for apartment condominium developers, lenders, project marketers and investors.
After a year of double-digit increases, expect slower growth in the MLS® multi-family real estate market this coming year.
2012 MLS® Condo Market Forecast
by Frank Schliewinsky, Strategics' Vancouver Condo Report
If you're confused about what's in store for the Vancouver condo market in 2012, you're not alone. The forecasts appearing in the mainstream media are all over the map. The Conference Board predicts a 5% price increase. Merrill Lynch warns of a 10% price correction. TD economist predicts challenging markets, etc, etc. Housing bubble, no housing bubble, prices up, prices down have all been predicted for the Vancouver housing market, so take your pick.
Part of the problem with these diverging forecasts is that none of them are very precise as to what's being forecast. Even though apartment and townhouse condominiums make up over half the sales (new and resale) in Greater Vancouver, much of the focus has been on the single family market, especially escalating prices in selected submarkets. And few of the forecasts seem to have incorporated two of the most important factors which will influence the Vancouver housing market in 2012: the slowdown in net migration to the Lower Mainland and the deflating real estate bubble in China. Read more and see detailed breakdowns by area and type of unit.
