March 24, 1989 News 985-2131 Classified 986-6222 Distribution 986-1337 84 pages 25¢

REAL ESTATE SALES JUMP BUT EXPERTS PREDICT MODERATING TREND

Housing market sizzles

HOUSING SALES on the North Shore in the first two
months of 1989 are up dramatically over sales in the cor-
responding months of 1988, according to Real Estate Board
of Greater Vancouver multiple listing figures.

f SIC ie MORSE

a ~ * - ~ * a NEWS | . .
[PAM DAVIES shows off ber intricately designed painted Easter: eggs at Lonsdale

|: Quay. Davies, -along-with several other North Shore crafismen, will display ber wares
| at the quay during: Easter weekend. Tse quay is also ‘hosting day-long entertainment
-eveuts for the four-day. holiday.

‘It's absolutely staggering,’’
said Bell Realty Ltd. founding
partner Allan Mark Angell. ‘‘In
the first two months, it’s gone
totally berserk.”’

In North Vancouver, for exam-
ple, 402 single-family houses sold
at an average price of $217,000 in
January and February versus 246
at an average price of $159,000 per
unit for the same period last year.

A total of 77 townhouses sold in
North Vancouver for an average
$155,000 over the two-month
period this year versus 48 sales at
an average $124,000 for the same
period last year, while 148 North
Vancouver apartments sold for an
average $94,000 compared with the
first two months of 1988 when 83
apartments sold for an average
price of $79,000.

In West Vancouver single-family
residential sales have more than
doubled. A total of 233 single-
family houses sold for an average
price of $370,000 during the first
two months of this year, compared
with the first two months of 1988
when 107 units sold at an average
price of $293,000.

Meanwhile, 15 West Vancouver
townhouse units sold at an average
price of $384,000 in January and
February compared with five units
selling for an average price of
$285,000 for the same period last
year.

A total of 39 apartments in West
Vancouver sold for an average cost
of $130,000 versus 28 sold for the
same period last year at an average
price of $173,000.

Real Estate Board of Greater
Vancouver spokesman Anne
Broadfoot said demand for hous-
ing in the Lower Mainland was
fueled by such factors as the area’s
current strong economy and the
influx of people into B.C. from
elsewhere in Canada and around
the world.

According to provincial gov-
ernment statistics, B.C. had a net
increase of 10,280 people from
other parts of Canada during the
last quarter of 1988 and a net in-
crease of 4,377 immigrants from
other parts of the world in the
same period. The comparable fig-
ures in the last quarter of 1987
were 7,907 and 2,930, respectively.

Broadfoot added that the
percentile increases given by the
board represent an average of all
houses sold ‘‘from the mansion to
the little house on the hill that used
to be a summer cottage.”

By TIMOTHY RENSHAW
and MICHAEL BECKER

Overall in the Greater Van-
couver area in the first two months
of 1989, for example, 221 proper-
ties worth over $500,000 each sold
compared with 29 in the same
period last year.

“So people should not
automatically assume that their
house is worth a comparable per-
centage increase,’’ she said. ‘‘The
value of any property is still
dependent upon location, condi-
tion, amenities and age of home
and desirability of property.’’

Angell said high prices on the
North Shore have partially been
the result of out-of-town buyers —
those from Vancouver and beyond
— overpaying for the available in-
ventory.

“I don’t like the (current) maz-
ket,’’ he said. ‘‘lt’s very difficult
to do a good job as a realtor. It’s
too wild.”’

But Angell added that the North
Shore market peaked in February
and predicted it will now stabilize
and drop, partially because of in-
creased inventory and traditionally
slower summer months.

The recent rise in the Bank of
Canada interest rate from 12.18
per cent to 12.40 per cent will also
affect mortgage interest rates.

Angell said the number of
houses listed for sale in West Van-
couver has gone from 215 in early
February to 312, and he predicted
that inventory will increase in West
Vancouver during the prime March
and April house sales months.

As of March 22, the number of
single-family houses for sale in
West Vancouver was 358, with a
listings total of 414.

Higher inventory, Angell said,
would lower housing prices.

“So we are at a very important
stage,’ he said. ‘‘If out-of-town
money keeps coming in, the mar-
ket will remain stable, but if inven-
tory keeps going up, the market
will fall.’

Angell said with only 14 houses
listed for sale in West Vancouver
for under $300,000, first-time
house buyers were virtually non-
existent in the current market.

Chuck Mitten, president of
North Vancouver's Mitten Realty
Ltd., agreed that the current
‘vibyant’ market is beginning to

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