Vancouver real estate prices slipping

It's getting cheaper to buy a home in the Greater Vancouver area, according to new figures from the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board.

Sales dropped 53.7 per cent to 1,568 in August 2008, compared with 3,384 in August 2007, the figures show.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties declined 1.7 per cent to 4,331 in August 2008 compared with August 2007, when 4,408 new units were listed.

While the benchmark price for detached properties has risen 1.6 per cent since August 2007, prices declined 4.3 per cent from record highs set in May 2008.

Realtor Paul Eviston said many properties are starting to list at reduced prices. He said he was forced to drop the price of a 1,500-square-foot half-duplex on E. 12th Avenue in East Vancouver by $70,000.

For the past five years, it's been a seller's market, Eviston said, but that's starting to change.

"When you're considering listing your property you've got to consider your asking price very carefully in order to have success," Eviston said. "If you're a buyer and you're in the marketplace and ready to pull the trigger, you're in the driver's seat, so it's a great time to be in the marketplace and buy a home."

Dave Watt, president of the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board, said there was a huge increase in people listing homes for sale in the spring, but that has cooled off as well.

"It started to change in July, but it shows even furthermore in August. The number of total listings has declined about 6.2 per cent."

As of Aug. 31, 2008, active residential listings totalled 17,950 in Greater Vancouver, a 6.2 per cent decline from the 19,138 active listings seen on July 31, 2008. 

The summer season is traditionally slow, but both Watt and Eviston said August was the slowest month for real estate since 1998.