Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Rupert real estate scene suffers a decline in 2008

Just a few days after BC Assessment has started the process of delivering our assessments, the B C Northern Real Estate Board has issued its year end numbers and to no surprise to anyone that was trying to sell a house in 2008, the real estate market has gone backwards in the last 12 months.

In the Northwest Region, which includes Prince Rupert, Terrace and Kitimat, the Rupert numbers showed a most sizeable drop in sales and revenues in 2008 from the numbers of 2007.

In 2008 109 single family homes in Prince Rupert found new owners, the average price of those houses for sale in 2008 was 186,511, though fully half of that 109 provided for a selling price of less than 173,500. Overall, 152 properties were sold on the local real estate market worth 28.51 million dollars, down from the 257 that were sold in 2007, which brought in 44.71 million dollars.

As 2008 came to an end, there were 252 properties listed in the city as for sale through the MLS service, an increase of 95 properties from a year ago, though judging by the downward trend they will most likely will not fetch as much as they would have, had they been on the market twelve months ago.

Outside of Prince Rupert, Terrace continues to be the best performing market of the three northwest cities, with 287 sales in 2008 worth 53.63 million, though they too are down significantly from the 2007 numbers.

Kitimat had 141 properties change hands in 2008, providing for 20.93 million in sales, down slightly from 2007 both in numbers and revenue.

As far as the properties for sale at the end of 2008, Prince Rupert had the most properties on the listings at 252; Terrace was next at 166 with Kitimat posting 55 properties on the MLS system by December 31.

The full review of Northern BC’s real estate picture can be found at the Opinion 250 website, from that site, we provide their synopsis of the Northwest Region below.

Northwest Region

Prince Rupert, 152 properties worth $28.51 million changed hands in 2008, down from 257 properties worth $44.71 million in 2007. Half of the 109 single family homes sold in 2008 sold for less than $173,500 while the average selling price for these homes was $186,511. In addition, 12 parcels of vacant land changed hands in 2008. At year end there were 252 properties of all types available for sale through MLS® in the Prince Rupert area, up from 157 at December 31st, 2007.

Terrace : 287 sales worth $53.63 million reported, compared with 398 sales worth $62.91 million in 2007. Of the 168 single family homes that sold, half sold for less than $196,000. In addition 28 parcels of vacant land, 26 homes on acreage, 17 manufactured homes in parks and a further 20 on land were reported sold through MLS® in the Terrace area in 2008. As of year end, there were 210 properties of all types available for sale through MLS® in the Terrace area, up from 166 at year end 2007.

Kitimat: The 141 properties that sold in the area were worth $20.93 million, down from the 203 properties worth $25.24 million sold in 2007. The 85 single family homes sold had a median value of $163,800. In addition, 25 half duplexes, 12 townhomes and 8
homes on acreage changed hands in 2008. At December 31st there were 103 properties of all types available through MLS® in the Kitimat area, up from 55 properties at December 31st, 2007.

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