Kristi Holz Market Update

December 2019 Real Estate Market Update

Happy December everyone! I’ve been listening to “All I want for Christmas is You” all week and I’ve got my tree up and a roaring fire on my TV, so it’s officially Christmas season – yay! 

The Real Estate Market is still chugging along.. we have 2 more weeks before everyone really takes it easy for the holidays. November kept up the activity of October, despite what felt like low inventory numbers. The number of new listings dropped this past month but it did seem like everything that was listed was priced to sell. Sellers don’t have as many weeks to test the market at this time of year (with Christmas very quickly approaching) so they’re often a little more motivated. 

The low inventory also lead to increased sales to active numbers indicating that Buyers were out there putting in offers and securing their next home. This time of year is often a good time to find a “deal” since a lot of Sellers may want to get their sale done before Christmas rather than dip their toes in the January/February market. These Sellers may have priced their listing too high from the start, or have been unlucky with the sale up to now, and realize that they have the next few weeks to get the sale done. This sentiment goes for Buyers as well. There have been some buyers who have been looking for months now, and want to get moving, so they’re often the ones taking advantage of the opportunities. If you’re keen on a property, submit an offer! You never know how low the Seller is willing to go until you try. You won’t have any competition and interest rates are still low so you can secure a new place with great numbers to back it up. 

Otherwise, I’m getting a lot of inquiries from potential Sellers and new Buyers right now. So with a bit of time and education, these folks will (likely) be pursuing their options in the Spring. Everyone moves at their own pace, and despite the intention of your move being a smart investment, you also want to ensure that you want to live there (unless, of course, you’re buying as an investment, the make sure the numbers work and find the best deal you can). 

There is always a fine dance to Buying and Selling at the same time, and that’s something that you want to pursue at the beginning of a market, rather than at the end, so I anticipate a lot of buy-sell transactions in the new year. This type of movement is what really keeps the market moving because these folks are truly moving up (or downsizing) and are keen to make it happen, whereas first time buyers know they can stay in they rental until they need too, and investor sellers have time on their side as well. 

Let’s have a look at each market in Vancouver: 

For East Vancouver, the sales to active ratio increased for each market this past month, though new inventory dropped this month and sales remained fairly steady indicating that it wasn’t so much an increase in activity as it was existing listings being sold. The HPI Price remained steady for East Van condos, townhouses and detached houses and I expect this to continue into the New Year. 

For Vancouver West (i.e. west of Ontario St to UBC), the HPI Price remained steady for each market. It’s still down over this time last year, but right now we’re not seeing any major swings. The number of new listings was down across the board – expected for this time of year (it won’t be until mid-to-late January that things start to pick up) – while sales were also a bit down this month, mostly due to lower inventory numbers but I did also see a lot of potential Buyers decide to step back and wait until the New Year. 

Here are the basic stats for Vancouver East and West. If you’re interested in learning about specific neighbourhoods, specific price points, specific types of properties or other cities, contact me: kristi@realestatevancity.ca! I find the market characteristics is pretty common across all cities in the GVA, though there may be some minor differences. Ask if you’re curious! 

East Vancouver Real Estate Stats up to and including November 2019

HPI Price for East Vancouver

New Listings for East Vancouver

Total Sales for East Vancouver

Sales to Active Ratio for East Vancouver

Vancouver West Real Estate Stats up to and including November 2019

HPI Price for Vancouver West

New Listings for Vancouver West

Total Sales for Vancouver West

Sales to Active Ratio for Vancouver West

Like I mentioned above, now is the time of year when everything starts to slow down, but it’s still a good time of year to get your ducks in a row. Send me a message or give me a call – let’s sit down to chat about the process, your questions, and your options – so if you’re buying you can take advantage of the new inventory that’ll hit in the New Year and if you’re selling you can be one of those great listings! 

If you’d like to slowly dip your toes in the market, I can set you up on a Custom Real Estate Search, feel free to contact me: kristi@realestatevancity.ca or 778-387-7371.