Canada's Housing Bubble

Jul 27, 2010 Village Whisperer WhispersFromTheEdgeOfTheRainForest

As July comes to a close, it is increasingly clear that the real estate market is changing.

On Friday I wrote that MPC Intelligence Inc., a local market research firm, counted 6,659 condo units being put into the marketing phase between March 1 and July 1, 2010.

MPC noted that this amount of inventory approaches numbers thrown onto the market during the headiest days of pre-sales in 2007. Sales, however, are nowhere near 2007 levels.

The 6,659 condo units now in the marketing phase compares with just 1,937 that were on the market in 2009 and 5,066 in 2008.

Meanwhile the latest overall R/E stats are now out from realtor Rob Chipman.

Although it is just a mid month estimate, the current level of Vancouver 'months of inventory' (MOI) is on track to rise to 7.5 months. In the Fraser Valley it is 8.4 months.

The sales numbers being generated for July could leave the industry on par to record the lowest sales for the month of July in the past 10 years, even lower than during July 2008 (which was in the midst of the 2008 credit crash).

No wonder Bob Rennie is slashing the price for condos in the Fairmont Estates by 40%.

If the market continues to slow, things could get ugly.

If you know of any listings which are slashing their asking prices, post them in the comments section or email them and I'll pass them on.