Vancouver Real Estate Board's Poor Disclosure

For the second consecutive month, the Vancouver Real Estate Board released different sales figures locally, then it reported to the Canadian Real Estate Board.

In August 2008, the Vancouver Real Estate board reported locally that average prices in its market area were up only about 2% year-over-year.

However, the same board reported to the national association that prices were down 5% year-over-year to $557,114.

When reporting locally the Vancouver Board has been consistently over-reporting sales prices for going on six months. The over-reporting appears to be an attempt to make the collapse of the local market not appear as bad as it is. It is an effort to inflate prices and does not make for efficient markets. Proper reporting is necessary for sellers to correctly price product, for sellers to make informed offers and to assist other market participants such as banks.

The Vancouver real estate market is in a tailspin. It is not a correction nor a return to normal levels. It is a bear market with prices falling daily.