Prices for Burnaby Real Estate are on the Rise.

In large part due to inventory levels that remain well below the 10-year seasonal averages, residential real estate of all types, has increased in value across Burnaby through the month of April and indications are that will continue in May.

Owners of Burnaby South Townhouses saw the biggest increase in value during the month of April according to the MLS Housing Price Index with a 4.4% increase. There were 19 townhouses sold in Burnaby South while just 22 new listings were brought to the market. Most notably, 13 of the 19 townhouse sales registered in Burnaby South this past month sold for full asking price or better. That’s a whopping 68% of townhouses that sold for full ask or better in Burnaby South.

Burnaby North saw the largest gains in the value of apartments and condos through the month of April with a 2.9% increase according to the MLS Housing Price Index. With the number of condos available for sale in Burnaby 12.9% below the available inventory at this time last year it is not an incredible surprise that the Active-to-Sale ratio sits at 31.2% for Burnaby North condos. What may be more evident of just how competitive the market is at the moment is that 41 of the 87 total condos sold in Burnaby North this past month sold for full asking price or more.

As for Detached, Single Family Homes, it was Burnaby South that saw the largest value appreciation through the month of April with an increase of 3.6% according to the MLS Housing Price Index. With a Sales-to-Active ratio that currently sits at 36.9% for Burnaby North detached homes we can expect that is likely to improve further in the short term. Of the 75 homes sold in Burnaby South 24 of them went for their full asking price or better.

The Burnaby Real Estate market saw an increase in activity in the month of March versus February with a total of 318 sales and 516 new listings across all property types. While inventory and total sales remain well under the 10-year average for this time of year housing prices and activity improved more than was expected for the month. The following table provides the benchmark price for each property type and the % change during the month:

While the number of properties listed for sale in Burnaby increased during the month the amount of real estate currently for sale is still far lower than is typical of this time of year. This lack of inventory combined with the number of sales in the month has the Sales-to-Active listing ratios for all property types - as detailed in the table below - well above 20% across the City of Burnaby. Should this persist there will be upward pressure on real estate prices.

Some points of interest on the Burnaby Real Estate Market for the month of March:

• The highest sale in Burnaby during the month of March was for a property in Burnaby Souths Deer Lake Place neighborhood that was listed for $3,990,000 and sold $3,587,000.

• The most inexpensive sale in Burnaby for the month of March was a 1-bedroom condo located in the Simon Fraser Hills neighborhood that was listed for $399,000 and sold for $389,000.

• Houses in Burnaby South saw the most value appreciation with a 3.7% increase

• Townhouses throughout the City of Burnaby decreased in value during the month

• Condos in Burnaby East saw the most value appreciation with an increase of 3.5%

In February, Burnaby's real estate market saw a significant decline in both detached home and condo sales. The 47 detached home sales in Burnaby represent a 54% decrease from the 102 sales recorded during the same month last year. This decline was mirrored in the condo market, which saw 180 apartments sold in February compared to 303 the previous year.

Despite the drop in sales, the Sales-to-Active listing ratio within the Burnaby detached housing market actually increased to 24% which would suggest there to be upward pressure on pricing in this marketplace. This is in large part due to a 58% decline in the number of homes that were brought to the market, which was 151 last year, versus just 81 homes this past February.

Similarly, the condo market also experienced a decrease in the number of listings, with 276 condos listed for sale this February compared to 393 in February of last year. This represents a reduction of almost 30% in the number of condominiums added to the market. With that, the sales-to-active listing ratio in the Burnaby condo market also increased this past month from just 16% at the end of January to 38% to begin March.

It's important to note that the decline in sales and new listings may be due to a variety of factors. While the increase in the sales-to-active listing ratio to figures above 20% in both the condo and detached housing marketing suggests that there may be upward pressure on prices in Burnaby there are also other contributing factors to that including the number of homes removed from the market without a sale.

Some other interesting stats to end February from the Burnaby housing market:

• The benchmark price of a Burnaby North townhouse was up 2.4% in February to $892,100

• The benchmark price of a Burnaby house, while down 10.4% over the year, was up this past month to $1,893,800.

• The benchmark price of a Burnaby condo has seen two consecutive positive months and now at $736,000

• At month's end there were 482 condos for sale, 68 townhouses and 203 homes across Burnaby.