Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - The first survey ranking Canada's top real-estate brokerages is being released today and industry executives are already squabbling over the top rankings.

      The top firm in the country by dollar value of transactions is Vancouver-based Macdonald Realty Group, which had more than $4.7-billion in sales in 2009, says the survey by Real Trends Inc., which provided an advance copy to the Financial Post.

      But the results are being challenged by Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd. chief executive Phil Soper, who said they are "self-reported."

      Colorado-based Real Trends, which has been doing the survey for 20 years in the United States, said all the data were verified by either an external accountant's letter certifying the accuracy or, if the firm was part of a branded chain, explicit approval by the franchisor.

      Dan Scarrow, the vice-president of strategy with Macdonald Realty, said since most of the transactions go through the Multiple Listing Service, they are public and easily verifiable. Any brokerage making up a number is sure to be called on it, he said.

      "We are the largest independent brokerage in a very large market and the market is very fragmented," said Mr. Scarrow in explaining his No. 1 ranking on the list.

      The No. 2-ranked firm in terms of dollar value was Re/Max Real Estate Central in Calgary, with $2.75-billion in sales. That Re/Max brokerage, with 242 agents, finished more than $200-million ahead of Mr. Soper's fifth-placed Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., which has 1,258 agents.

      "It's grossly wrong," said Mr. Soper, casting doubt on the findings that did place his firm No. 1 in the country by volume of transactions, with 9,849 sales concluded. Royal LePage operates a franchise model and also has 15 offices that are corporately owned.

      "We sent out announcements multiple times to everybody, from [the Canadian Real Estate Association] to all the national brands. Every single one of them.

"We talked to other brokerages who do business in Canada," said Steve Murray, editor of Real Trends. "I'm sure somebody will be left out, but we tried to make sure every broker who does 500 transactions in Canada had a chance to apply."

      Real Trends does not charge brokers to be part of the list, but does try to sign up companies for its subscription service. "Brokerages can benchmark themselves against others and see the general trends among different brands and provinces," Mr. Murray said. "The large brokers can see whether they are doing better than the market, as well as the market or trailing the market. There is all kinds of statistical stuff that has never before been available to the Canadian market."

      He admitted there has been some resistance to the rankings in the Canadian market because some brokerages have never revealed such information before.

Of the 200 firms that participated, there were 392,898 transactions, Real Trends says. That represents only about 42% of total transactions in Canada. There were 465,251 transactions in Canada conducted through the MLS in 2009, according to CREA, and each transaction has a buyer and a seller.

      Michael Polzler, executive vice-president of Re/Max Ontario Atlantic-Canada, said those not on the list this year because they chose not to participate might think twice in 2010 as the survey becomes more well-known.

      "Our market performance speaks for itself," said Mr. Polzler. Brokerages under the Re/Max brand had four of the top 10 spots in terms of sales and dollar value of transactions.

Slow Start/Strong Finish for Housing Market in 2009!

After beginning the year at near record low sales levels, buyers’ confidence in the Greater Vancouver housing market quickly returned, allowing for significant and sustained increases in the number of residential property sales for much of 2009.

“The number of homes listed for sale on our MLS® has been in decline in Greater Vancouver for eight of the last nine months, which results in upward pressure on home prices and less selection for buyers to choose from,” Russell said.

Holding Steady!

Interest Rates Going Down?

Strong Demand Carries Into Late Fall!

High Sales Levels Spur Rise in Home Values

According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, strong demand has led to a steady rise in Greater Vancouver home prices compared to last year.

Over the last 12 months, the MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver increased 6.8 per cent to $553,702 from $518,668 in October 2008.

“While home prices have been rising in 2009, they have not eclipsed the peaks reached in early 2008,” Scott Russell, Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) president said. “We’re coming off several months of unseasonably high sales levels, which has allowed for a gradual increase in home values this year,”

The REBGV reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 3,704 in October 2009, an increase of 4.1 per cent from the 3,559 sales recorded in September 2009, and an increase of 171.6 per cent compared to October 2008 when 1,364 sales were recorded. Looking back two years, last month’s sales increased 22.3 per cent compared to October 2007 when 3,028 sales were recorded.

“High confidence and low mortgage rates are continuing to drive the activity we’re seeing in the housing market today,” Russell said.

New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 4,977 in October 2009. This represents a 2.3 per cent increase compared to October 2008 when 4,867 new units were listed, and a 13.4 per cent decline compared to September 2009 when 5,764 properties were listed on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Greater Vancouver.

At 12,084, the total number of property listings on the MLS® decreased 4.1 per cent in October compared to last month and declined 37 per cent from this time last year.

Sales of detached properties increased 201.6 per cent to 1,487 from the 493 detached sales recorded during the same period in 2008. The benchmark price, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, for detached properties increased 7.7 per cent from October 2008 to $749,808.

Sales of apartment properties in October 2009 increased 148.4 per cent to 1,607, compared to 647sales in October 2008. The benchmark price of an apartment property increased 6.3 per cent from October 2008 to $380,975.

Attached property sales in October 2009 are up 172.3 per cent to 610, compared with the 224 sales in October 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit increased 4.6 per cent between Octobers 2008 and 2009 to $468,798.

Buyer Demand Remains Strong While Home Listings Increase

Greater Vancouver home sales remained strong last month, with the second highest number of residential sales ever recorded for the month of September.

“As homes sales in Greater Vancouver continued at an elevated pace in September it’s encouraging to see that more homes were listed on the MLS® in the month than any other so far this year,” Scott Russell, REBGV president said.

“During this period of renewed demand in our marketplace, home values have gradually recovered from the declines that occurred in 2008,” said Russell.

Since the beginning of the year, the MLSLink® Housing Price Index (HPI) benchmark price for all residential properties in Greater Vancouver has increased 13 per cent to $547,092 from $484,211, while home prices compared to Septembers 2008 levels are up 1.6 per cent.