“Usually you’d have five to 10 sales a month, but we’ve only had one in the last six weeks. Everything above $2 million is pretty much dead; anything related to international money is gone right now.”
Prices have also declined for downtown condos in the $600,000 to $700,000 range, Watt said.
In relatively affordable Langley and Abbotsford, where a two-bedroom, two-bathroom townhome goes for between $300,000 and $400,000, it’s a similar story: seven or eight weeks ago, sellers would receive multiple offers. Properties are now sitting on the market for longer, said Tim Sawatzky, a realtor with 2 Percent Realty Valley.
Where it was once common to see lineups to buy condo pre-sales contracts, Sawatzky said developers in Surrey, Langley and Abbotsford are now offering a variety of incentives, such as a $20,000 “furnishing package,” or between $20,000 and $40,000 off the closing price when the building is completed. (When buyers purchase a pre-sale condo contract, they typically pay five to 15 per cent of the price up front and then pay the full amount after the building is completed.)
All sorts of cash incentives in the market right now if that’s your sort of thing. Read the full article here.