Tag Archives: cash out

BC, economy, opinion, prices, supply

The ‘right price’ keeps changing

106
106 Comments

Yesterday we heard from a Vancouver Realtor about why condos aren’t selling.

They’re overpriced.

And now there’s this article in the Vancouver Sun Buyers on the Sidelines as Market Slows.

Its all about the market slowdown – we’re now seeing the lowest number of sales since 2000 in Vancouver.

Nice houses that are priced right are selling within days, some in bidding wars. But anything priced too high or considered undesirable is apt to sit idle in this market, which is, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, witnessing the lowest total sales for the region since July, 2000. The Board reported 2,098 property sales in July, a drop of 11.2 per cent compared to June. It’s a drop of 18.4 per cent compared to July, 2011.

There are many anecdotal stories around the Lower Mainland about houses that have sat on the market for months, priced too high for the more price-conscious market. A six-year-old West Vancouver home on a 21,000-square-foot lot overlooking Capilano Golf & Country Club was originally listed at $3.695-million three months ago. The owners have reduced the price by $400,000 and it still hasn’t sold.

“There is a lot of product but it’s not selling for the price that people expected or hoped for,” says real estate finance expert Tsur Somerville, who is director of the University of B.C.’s Centre for Urban Economics and Real Estate. “People aren’t buying at the prices that are being set.”

Well here’s a funny thing about ‘the right price’ in a correcting market: it keeps changing.

I live in a BC market that is several years into it’s correction and I can tell you that the places that are selling are moving only at prices that are lower than the ‘right price’ a year ago and far lower than the ‘right price’ several years ago.

advice, BC, hype, predictions, prices

Another Realtor says “SELL NOW”

79
79 Comments

Should we have some sort of index tracking Realtors making public statements that it’s time to sell?

The market is sluggish, sales are low, inventory is growing.

..And the number of agents saying it’s time to SELL NOW is growing as well.

Agent Keith Roy was in the news recently with his blog post about the sale of his personal property and now Sam Wyatt is saying something similar:

Vancouver’s real estate market is getting and is going to get hit from both ends.  So, now that you are thoroughly depressed, here is the bright light:  IF YOU SELL NOW, YOU WILL STILL BE SELLING NEAR THE TOP OF THE MARKET.  If you plan to sell, you will need to price BELOW the most recent comparable sales prices.  If you don’t do this, your listing will stagnate.  I am pleased that this methodology has produced 4 sales in the last 30 days for my clients in a market were most homes are not selling.  In one case we had a multiple offer with a significant over asking result and in another we negotiated a full asking price sale.

I guess the important part is in all caps.

So can anyone find me a Realtor saying that now is a good time to buy in Vancouver?

 

advice, BC, prices

Sales plunge to 10 year low

153
153 Comments

The June news release from the REBGV has been released and it looks like the market has turned a corner.

As all of you regular readers here know, sales have plunged to a 10 year low.

The HPI benchmark price has also dropped from the previous month in some areas.  Oddly enough it’s houses in the desirable west side and Richmond which have both dropped about 2% from May.

Best Place on Meth summarizes the total changes for all areas:

Summary of June HPI:

All -0.7%
SFH -0.6%
Apt -0.9%
T/H -0.3%

I was expecting no change for June and declines to start next month so this is a bit of a bonus.

Yes the hot summer market has turned out to be anything but.  As prices drop a few percentage points from their all time highs some are calling this a ‘buyers market‘.

Meanwhile at least one local realtor has sold his own house and says it’s time to cash out.

 

Open Topic

Friday Free-for-all!

153
153 Comments

Yeah, it’s the weekend!  That means it’s time for our regular end of the week news round-up and open topic discussion thread, here are a few recent links to kick off the chat:

–18k Inventory party!
–Updated inventory graph
–Taxpayers victims of ‘hot money’
–Welcome to Effluent Richmond
–1 month later Telus still not sold out
–special offer, $510,000 off
–CMHC dismisses bubble talk
–The CMHC board of directors
–Silver linings of slow growth economy
–Condo craze gets crazier
–Wolverine moves down under
–Huge drop in Chinese immigrants
–Building permits rise, just not here
–Pastrick thinks prices might fall
–Buying with 5% down?
–Time to cash out?
–Condo owner, why so glum?
–

So what are you seeing out there?  Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes here and have an excellent weekend!