Looks like statistics from last month are starting to show up now.
Over at the Vancouver Sun they’re leading with the headline stat that YOY sales are down almost 30%.
The REBGV Home Price Index (HPI) is now down 5.6%, which Aleksey points out means that people who bought last May with the minimum down payment are now ‘underwater’ on their mortgages.
It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen this happen, but we’re now at a point where a small number of recent Vancouver home buyers owe more for their property than their property is worth on the market.
How long till we see the term ‘underwater’ or ‘upside down’ when it comes to Vancouver mortgage holders in the news?
With sales and prices down, REBGV president Eugene Klein did find one market indicator that is up: Realtor anecdotes of visitors to open houses.
Sales in February followed recent trends and were below seasonal averages, though our members tell us they saw more traffic at open houses last month compared to the previous six to eight months.
Somebody should tell the Vancouver Observer so they can correct this article again: What does it mean when nobody shows up to an open house in Vancouver?
“Well, this is a bit odd.” The Realtor checks his phone again, but it’s not saying anything new.
It’s been an hour, and nobody has shown up to the open house. We’re standing on the ground floor of a townhouse.
The Downtown East Side, but it’s silent except for CBC Radio 3: classical music plays quietly from tiny, beautiful speakers that can probably only play classical music. Top-40 would cause them to implode.
The Realtor walks out the door, across the long, wide patio, to the front gate of the courtyard. He’s making sure his phone number is correct on the open-house announcement. It is.
A bright, sunny Saturday in Vancouver. Just after lunch, and there’s nobody here but us.
