What does ‘Buyers market’ mean to you?

Is it a market in which the buyer has lots of choice or gets a reasonable price?

..because they aren’t the same thing.

Now that prices are dropping from their record highs on Vancouver real estate, we’re seeing the term ‘buyers market’ bandied about in the media a lot.  And with a huge number of places for sale and actual transactions falling to a 10 year low there’s lots of choice.

But prices are still near record highs!

Real estate is a slow illiquid market, it takes LOTS of time for trends to move through.  Just take a look at the USA, there are some people thinking they’ve hit bottom in some markets after SIX YEARS of falling prices.  Don’t expect deals within a few months, or even a few years.

Real estate marketers will use the term ‘buyers market’ a lot in the coming years, because they make money off transactions.  If it’s not a good time to sell it must be a good time to buy right?

There is one nice thing happening with the shift in the local market though: the Vancouver Sun is starting to publish a bit more variety when it comes to RE market opinion:

Investors in stocks wouldn’t consider a drop in volume to be a buyer’s market in the absence of price changes. The adage that volume precedes price instructs investors to be patient. There’s no compelling reason for real estate buyers to act differently.

Bravo Vancouver Sun, Bravo.