Looking back at 2015 real estate price changes

B.C. is buoying the country's residential real estate market, according to a forecast update from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Prices increased 11.5 per cent, significantly bolstering the national average, while sales activity increased 21.4 per cent in 2015 over 2014-and those figures aren't just for Vancouver. The association, however, expects increases in sale prices in B.C. to continue but to drop to a more modest two per cent next year, down from an unprecedented 11.5 per cent in 2015.

Over the last 12 months, the Lower Mainland has bucked up not just the provincial average but also the national average. Prices increased 18 per cent over the last year in Greater Vancouver and 12.3 per cent in the Fraser Valley.

Read more... (BCBusiness.ca)

December 2015 Real Estate Reports

Our monthly stats now use the MLS® Home Price Index. The HPI benchmarks represent the price of a typical property within each market. It takes into consideration what averages and medians do not - items such as lot size, age, number of rooms, etc. These features become the composite of the 'typical house' in a given area.

Click below to find the benchmark price for condos, townhomes and houses in your area last month.

Is Squamish the best-kept real estate secret in B.C.?

Young families getting priced out of Vancouver and heading to the 'burbs is a familiar story, but developers say there's a new exodus underway - to Squamish.

New rules to heat up housing market

The new mortgage down payment rules, intended to cool down the overheated housing market and put a drag on housing prices, are going to make prices in Maple Ridge even more attractive to buyers, say local realtors.

The new rules will require bigger down payments from people buying expensive properties.

Buyers will still be able to purchase a home with just 5 per cent down, on a property up to $500,000. But with the new rules announced by Ottawa last week, for houses more expensive than that, the purchaser will need to come up with 10 per cent down for the amount more than $500,000.

So, a $500,000 home will require a $25,000 down payment, but a $700,000 house will require $45,000 down.

Read more... (Maple Ridge News)