Homeowners watched their properties soar in value over the past year, while new home buyers struggled to find anything in their price range.
As 2021 was coming to an end, real estate professionals saw the year’s sales statistics setting new high marks in the Lower Mainland.
The BC Real Estate Association reported provincial MLS home sales reached a new annual record in November. With still one month to go in 2021 sales have already surpassed the previous annual record of 112,425 units set in 2016.
With all the activity, prices have shot up in Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows and across the region.
“We’ve had elevated home sale activity throughout 2021 despite persistently low levels of homes available for sale,” said Keith Stewart, economist with the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).
“With a new year around the corner, it’s critical that this supply crunch remains the focus for addressing the housing affordability challenges in our region.”
There is no end in sight, according to the Royal LePage 2022 Market Survey Forecast. It sees house prices across Greater Vancouver rising 12 per cent next year, from $1.69 million to $1.89 million, and apartments rising eight per cent from $710,000 to $767,000.
“We’ve been experiencing a chronic shortage of housing supply for over a year, and inventory levels are steadily decreasing. This continues to be a main driver of price appreciation in Vancouver and the greater region,” said Randy Ryalls, managing broker, Royal LePage Sterling Realty.
He said inventory would have to double in order for the region to return to a balanced market, as demand continues to outpace supply.
Throughout the year, realtors consistently told The News they were seeing situations listed homes selling within days of hitting the market, with multiple offers above asking, and buyers asking for no subjects on their their sales.
The REBGV board reports the median selling price of 118 houses that sold in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows during November was more than $1.3 million. That’s up from $960,000 during the same month in 2020. The change in one year is 34 per cent in Maple Ridge, and 32.3 per cent in Pitt Meadows.
The Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows market remains comparatively affordable for all residential property types. The benchmark price of a townhouse in the Lower Mainland is $892,000, compared with $780,000 for 55 Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows units sold in November. And the benchmark for a Lower Mainland apartment is $755,000, compared with $529,000 for Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows, based on 54 units sold locally.
But consistently, Maple Ridge looks like an attractive market, where a buyer’s dollar goes further.
“The prices they are seeing here are not what they are used to seeing” said longtime local realtor Gloria Hamilton.
“Maple Ridge is an affordable community compared to Coquitlam, Richmond, Vancouver…”
READ ALSO: B.C. moving to ‘cooling-off period’ to stabilize hot real estate market
READ ALSO: Mortgage rates predicted return to pre-pandemic levels of 3% by late 2022
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2021 Year in Reviewmaple ridgePitt MeadowsReal estate
