All in all I’d say that 2011 was a great year for the lower mainland real estate market. In general prices were up. In some markets prices were up significantly. Richmond, West Vancouver and Vancouver saw price increases that could only be called “bubble like”. That worries me.
The Tri City (Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody saw a more tempered increase. The number of actual homes sold in 2011 was up in the Tri City area, in some areas sigificantly. Coquitlam detached home sales were up 29%. All in, the Tri City registered a 12% increase across all home types (detached, townhome and apartment).
Here are the numbers:
Detached home sales 2011 versus 2010
Coquitlam 1039 homes sold in 2010, 1339 homes sold in 2011, 29% increase
Port Moody 230 homes sold in 2010, 234 homes sold in 2011, 2% increase
Port Coquitlam 428 homes sold in 2010, 453 homes sold in 2011, 6% increase
Attached home3 sales 2011 versus 2010
Coquitlam 1086 homes sold in 2010, 1237 homes sold in 2011, 14% increase
Port Moody 496 homes sold in 2010, 525 homes sold in 2011, 6% increase
Port Coquitlam 571 homes sold in 2010, 531 homes sold in 2011, 7% decrease
The MLSLINK Housing Price Index
Here is an explanation of what it is:
The Housing Price Index (HPI) is an alternative measure of real estate prices that provides a clearer picture of market trends over traditional tools such as mean or median average prices.
As of December 2011 the following benchmark prices applied:
Coquitlam $674,792
Port Moody $933,068
Port Coquitlam $555,876
I’ll be adding more to this as soon as possible.
