February real estate numbers indicate Richmondites became more confident in the housing market, as both home prices and the number of new listings in the market saw a rise compared to January.
However, whether the growth will continue remains to be seen after the Bank of Canada announced on Wednesday it would hold its key interest rate at five per cent, citing concerns over inflation.
The benchmark price for residential properties in Richmond was $1,173,100 in February, a 2.9-per-cent increase from January, according to the February report from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), which recently rebranded as Greater Vancouver Realtors (GVR).
Prices for apartments grew the fastest, with a benchmark price of $769,800, a 4.9-per-cent increase from the previous month.
Townhouses and single-family homes also saw a month-to-month rise of 1.9 per cent and 2.4 per cent in price, respectively, reaching a benchmark price of $1,120,500 and $2,128,500.
Meanwhile, the number of homes for sale rose in February with 460 listings in Richmond – a 13-per-cent increase from January. The sales-to-listings ratio also grew by 21 per cent, 17 per cent and two per cent for single-family homes, townhouses and apartments, respectively.
This was in line with the trend in Metro Vancouver, which saw new listings rise 31 per cent year-over-year in February, bringing a "significant number" of newly listed properties to the market, according to the report.
“While the pace of home sales started the year off briskly, the pace of newly listed properties in January was slower by comparison. A continuation of this pattern in February would have been concerning, as it could quickly tilt the market towards overheated conditions,” said Andrew Lis, GVR’s director of economics and data analytics, in a press release.
“With new listings up about 31 per cent year-over-year in February, this will relieve some of the pressure that was building in January and offer buyers more choice as we enter the spring and summer markets.”
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