Happy New Year Everyone! I hope you have a great holiday season filled with lots of holiday and family fun. The real estate market always slows down in December – full stop over Christmas – before gaining energy in January, so I’ll keep the stats review short this month, but instead offer a general recap of the market.
2019 was an interesting year. It was really slow at the end of 2018 into 2019. Listings were sitting for awhile, Buyers weren’t motivated and there wasn’t a lot of excitement in the market. I was getting bored seeing the same listings come up on MLS and I’m certain everyone else was too. Finally, and somewhat unexpectedly given the timing, the market picked up again in late Spring, which lead me to have my busiest Summer in years. This increased activity developed from a confluence of falling prices, good interest rates and Buyers finding opportunities – and it continued for the rest of the year. It’s a great feeling to see Buyers come back to the table because once properties started selling, potential Sellers gain a little more confidence and decide to list their property as well – so more Buyers in the market lead to an increase in new listings too. The increase in interest did lead to a slight increase in prices, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we continue to see a slight increase over the next year given increasing demand (though inventory levels will make a big difference in prices next year). In the Fall I was seeing multiple offers happen on some really good listings (i.e. a great, entry level detached house) and on some really well priced listing (i.e. those priced far lower than their value to pull in multiple offers). Despite there being multiple offers, I wasn’t seeing any insane price increases or many unconditional offers, so these scenarios weren’t as disheartening for Buyers as they have been in the past. On the flip side, overpriced listings sat on the market because Buyers were not keen to negotiate very much so Sellers had to be reasonable in order to attract Buyers.
Personally, I’m seeing a lot of Buyers enter the market (for the first time, or again after taking a break) in addition to the folks who started searching in the Fall – so I anticipate a busy Spring with high sales numbers. Hopefully the amount of inventory increases to match Buyer demand, and I think it will. I anticipate a Balanced Market, which is good for everyone. It’s a good time for current owners to be thinking about a buy and sell – you can be confident your listing will sell in a reasonable amount of time (assuming it’s not over priced) and you’ll have options to buy as well.
Let’s have a look at Vancouver East and West:
For East Vancouver, the inventory and number of new listings dropped in December, as expected, but the HPI Price increased ever so slightly though it’s within a few percentage points over this time last year. The sales to active ratio was strong, thanks to December having fewer listings and Buyers wanting to get their purchase done before the New Year.
For Vancouver West (i.e. west of Ontario St to UBC), as expected, inventory and new listings dropped in December. HPI Price remained steady in December, and priced are still down over this time last year, with Vancouver West Detached Houses being the furthest behind (at 6.7%), as expected. The detached house market also has the biggest % difference between List Price and Sale Price, so if you’re looking to buy in that market, negotiate hard!
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 in how different cities have reacted to the market waking up (if anything, cities outside of Vancouver are typically slower to gain traction). Ask if you’re curious!
East Vancouver Real Estate Stats up to and including December 2019
Median Percentage of Original Price
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 December 2019
Median Percentage of Original Price
New Listings for Vancouver West
Total Sales for Vancouver West
Sales to Active Ratio for Vancouver West
The market is going to slowly pick up as everyone shakes off the rust from the holidays and gets back to work. If you want to start learning about the market, send me a message or give me a call and let’s sit down to chat about the process, your questions, and your options.
If you’d like to slowly dip your toes in the market, I can also set you up on a Custom Real Estate Search, just fill in the form this page or feel free to contact me: kristi@realestatevancity.ca or 778-387-7371.