Tuesday January 12th, 2010 - Vancouver Market Feels Good for 2010

At a recent holiday function for real estate developer the crowd of developers, realtors and industry insiders were relatively upbeat compared to the past few years.  A special guest speaker at the even touched on the fact that recent brisk sales and increased project launches mark a better day than the misery seen last December.

Last year, the market was so slow, developers were putting projects on hold and there were only 924 transactions that took place in December of 2008, half of the 2007 level.  There was a somber mood, and many industry professionals stepped back from market activity.

No buying in 2008 meant no need for labor and services, including no need for new homes.  Developers just did not want to take on the risk of building new structures.  Thankfully, the industry has seen a market rebound throughout 2009.

After activity was slow at the beginning of the year, transactions peaked at nearly 5,000 during the month of June.  Sales continued at the elevated levels, and there were a new wave of demand throughout the industry.  The housing market is not dead, it was just an extremely volatile cycle.

The region has not seen such a dramatic rebound since the economic downturn of the 1980s.

Through 2009, record-low interest rates paired with the falling home prices made an ideal situation for buyers.  In history, through most economic downturns, the housing market is the first to begin recovering, and the magnitude of the recovery is surprising.