Port Moody Real Estate News

The Globe and Mail had an interesting article last month titled 'Home in the suburbs, heart in the city' in which it mentioned the changes in Greater Vancouver's suburbs. It said that Vancouver stands out as the city where more of its suburban residents live in dense developments of condos, apartments, townhouses and highrise towers than anywhere else in North America. It mentioned Port Moody, where it says more than 90% of new housing is condos, apartments or townhouses.

People who live in these new developments like the mix of being close to nature, yet have all the amenities of an urban centre close--they want to have shops, cafes, restaurants and schools within walking distance. The recent developments in Suter Brook, such as Onni’s Room located at 121 Brew Street, between Aria 1 and Aria 2, combines the style of downtown loft condos with modern sophistication in a beautiful scenic setting. For those, not familiar with Port Moody, Suter Brook is the development right in the heart of Port Moody, located at the corner of Murray St. and Ioco Rd.

Onni's Room development was completed in late 2008 and brought something new and different to the Tri Cities. Room brought the style of warehouse conversion living in a new, contemporary brick-faced seven-storey building. Room is composed of studio, one bedroom and two-bedroom homes that range from approximately 590 sq.ft. to 1,020 square feet. You can check for current listings by clicking on this link: current listings in the Room. Other real estate options in Suter Brook include the Aria 1 and Aria 2 buildings. These have some excellent opportunities to buy a Port Moody condo or townhouse. These types of developments fit in with Port Moody's vision for housing: According to the Port Moody Council Strategic Plan, Port Moody’s Council's vision is that Port Moody, (City of the Arts), is a unique, safe, vibrant waterfront city of strong neighbourhoods; a complete community that is sustainable and values its natural environment and heritage character. So far, that vision has become a reality, and Port Moody remains a great place to live.

According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, activity in the Greater Vancouver housing market continued to strengthen in March with both the number of homes sold and added to the region’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) reaching near record levels. Port Moody was one of the areas within Greater Vancouver that saw increases across the board in terms of property sales and listings, with apartments or condos performing especially well in terms of residential property types.

The Board reported that residential property sales of detached, attached properties and apartments/condos in Greater Vancouver reached 4,080 last month. This was a 31.7% increase on February 2011, and an increase of 30.1% compared to sales in March 2010 and an 80.1% increase from the number of residential property sales in March 2009. The all-time Greater Vancouver sales record for March was back in 2004 when 4,371 residential property sales were recorded.

The Port Moody real estate market had a very strong start to the season. This is normally a busy time for REALTOR®s and it's great to see that the levels of sales is on par with the amount of properties being listed in Port Moody. Condos in Port Moody are out-performing attached and detached properties in terms of the amount of sales and listings. However it's detached properties that are experiencing the highest month-on-month price increases (according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver's benchmark price index).

Here are the March real estate stats for Port Moody:

Port Moody Benchmark Property Prices:

• Detached Property: $709,706 (a 12.5% increase on February prices)
• Attached Property: $407,488 (a 3.7% increase on February prices)
• Apartment/condos: $297,220 (a 2.5% increase on February prices)

According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, benchmark prices are the estimated sale prices of a benchmark property. Benchmarks represent a typical property within each market.

• Detached Property: 30 sales
• Attached Property: 19 sales
• Apartments/condos: 40 sales

According to MLS® LISTINGS facts, Port Moody had:

• Detached Property: 53 new listings
• Attached Property: 36 new listings
• Apartments/condos: 64 new listings

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver is an association representing more than 10,000 REALTORS® and their companies. The Board provides a variety of member services, including the Multiple Listing Service®. For more information, check out the official Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver website.

Check back here regularly for more information on monthly Port Moody real estate news and statistics.