In this weeks video, Jamie takes a somewhat brighter look at the Vancouver Real Estate Market. Summers Coming!
Everything you need to know about Vancouver’s Real Estate Market –
Below is a Video Transcription
Today we are going to talk about two things, the current state of the Vancouver Real Estate Market and if you are selling your home, how you can get multiple offers on your property even in this slow market.
March was the slowest March on record since 1986. April wasn’t the slowest April on record, but the conditions weren’t a heck of a lot better. For the entire Greater Vancouver region, sales were down 29% from April 2018 – April 2019. Remember that April 2018 was not in great shape either. The April statistics for the April ten year average were 43% below the ten-year average. Market conditions are not great. We have rising inventories, and not because people want to abandon the market or run away and cash out, it just that nothing is selling. Homes are sitting on the market a lot longer, as if you kept buying food and loading up your refrigerator, but you weren’t eating any of it.
Let’s talk about how much prices have gone up and down over the last year. The benchmark price for the Westside of Vancouver for a detached house is down 13% over the last year. If your house was worth 2 million dollars last year, now it is worth about 1.75 million. The Eastside is pretty much the same and is down 12%. Ladner showed the smallest decrease with prices down about 4% last year. Richmond is down 12% as well. Those statistics are for the detached market.
Condo prices haven’t seen as much of a decrease because the condo market was still pretty good for the first 4 months or so of 2018 and then it started to slow down. Condo prices for the last year for the West side (which also includes Downtown) are down about 9%. Eastside is down 5%, Ladner 8% and Richmond 7%.
Again, I want to talk to folks who have their house on the market. It makes no sense to over-price your home in a declining market. Let’s say you list your home for 1.4 million, but it is really worth 1.2 million. After you have sat there for 3 months and you lose 3% in value, now your house that was worth 1.2 million is only worth 1.05 million. You will wind up chasing the market down. I see this all the time, and it is a constant problem. For most of us, our home is our biggest investment in life. When realtors come in and tell you “I think you should price your house at this”, there is an element of mistrust. Realtors are commission-based salespeople, and most people do not trust commission salespeople. I don’t trust commission salespeople, so I wouldn’t expect you to either. 95% of the homes on the market right now will not sell at the price they are listed for. The reason they will not sell is because many sellers are trying to get last years prices for this year. It does not work that way because we know the markets are declining and so does every buyer out there!
Knowing all of this, lets talk about some situations I have been in where I have had houses sell with multiple offers. The reason we are talking about my houses that have sold, is because I know the situation. I bet less than 5% of the houses on the market in the current market are selling with multiple offers. Why is that? I have six situations here and in all of these situations I had a relationship with the sellers, and they trusted me.
Last October, in Richmond Steveston area, there were a bunch of houses in the area listed for around 1.3 million and they had been on the market for 60, 90, 120 days etc. That was because in the spring of 2018 they had been selling in the 1.3 million range. So, these people 6 months later want to get the same price, but that wasn’t reality. With our seller we went and listed the place at 1.99 million and everything else was listed at 1.3 million. We got 6 offers on this property and we got $50,000 above asking price. We got 1.25 million and sold it in 3 days with 6 offers.
Another one was a home on Arbutus Street that we sold a few months ago. We listed for 1.9 million and it sold for 2.1 million in 4 days. We got 11% above asking price there.
I just sold another property in Richmond last week on Glenbrook Drive. Again, same situation as the one last fall in Richmond. Everything was on the market for 1.35 million and was on the market for a long time with no sales since last fall. We were on the market for 6 days, had 5 offers and sold at asking price. When you have that many offers and sell at asking price, that tells you what the market value is. This one was a really nice house, totally re-done and maintained. These other houses listed $150,000-$200,000 higher were not nearly as nice and the market was speaking to these people. Now with our sale, they virtually have no chance of selling their homes at those prices.
Last year we had one in Ladner on the market for 20 days and we got 3 offers. As well as a condo Downtown that we had on the market for 7 days and received 3 offers. You can sell your home with multiple offers in today’s market!
Last touch back on the commissioned salespeople part I spoke about. I hate going in to clothing stores and having someone jump all over me and start showing me things. I want to walk around and see what I like, and then I will go and ask the salesperson myself for a size. Things have changed in real estate over the past 40-50 years. Once upon a time realtors were sales people. In todays world, we are digital marketers. Ones that are successful understand that we are digital marketers and know how to market your property properly online.
There are 3 key things to know when you are selling your home. Price – you have to price your home properly. Presentation – so that it shows nicely online. Marketing – knowing where to market your property and knowing what is going on in your neighbourhood. And actually the 4th key is choosing the realtor you work with wisely!
Buying or Selling a home in the Greater Vancouver Area contact Jamie Hooper and his team at https://jamiehooper.com | Vancouver Real Estate