What’s Happening with Condos in East Van?
The condo market is the most approachable it’s been over the last few years, which offers a lot of opportunities for Buyers, though a lot of this shift is due to the tightening of mortgage rules which makes it a lot tougher to get financing. If you hear of a property with an accepted “conditional” offer, keep following up as those aren’t a guarantee.
If you haven’t already spoken with a mortgage broker, or if it’s been a few months since you have, follow up to see how your financing approvals look today. And I can’t stress this enough, talk to a broker rather than a bank since they’ll offer more options for you, which is needed right now. The Pinsky Mortgage Team are the best around. They’ll present you with options and will make sure you understand the short and long term ramifications.
The numbers indicate that it’s still a Seller’s market, though what’s happening in real life show that the market isn’t nearly as busy as these numbers make it seem. The sales to active ratio for condos in East Van is 56% overall, which breaks down to 70% for 1 bedrooms units, 49% for 2 bedroom units and 24% for 3 bedroom units.
Prices were steady for 1 and 2 bedroom units, and sporadic for 3 bedrooms units, though that’s due to the opposite nature of that market (either expensive luxury units or cheaper leasehold units): the average price was $570k ($923/sqft) and the median price was $546k ($946/sqft) for 1 beds, the average price was $797k ($919/sqft) and the median price was $771k ($941/sqft) for 2 beds, and the average price was $1.198-million ($904/sqft) and the median price was $1.16-million ($870/sqft) for 3 beds.
The total inventory increased slightly this month, with 134 one bed condos, 156 2 bed condos and 25 three bed condos available, many of these being new listings this month rather than existing inventory. If the numbers keep increasing, the inventory numbers will soon be higher than the average over the last couple of years, which is great news for Buyers.
The average days on market is 8 days for one bed condo, 8 days for two bed condos and 56 days for three bed condos, which indicates that 1 and 2 bed condos are still selling the after the first week they’ve been listed, so if you like a property, you have to go for it unless you’re willing to risk losing it.
At the end of the day, good listings and listings priced on the lower end of reasonable will still sell quickly, so be prepared when it comes to your financing and your real estate knowledge. I don’t think prices will drop (at least considerably) but I do think it will be a bit tougher to sell units in bad buildings or units that haven’t been well cared for since Buyers may have a bit more choice and can be more picky. So if you’re thinking about selling, put the extra effort in to make your property shine.
As always, if you want to chat real estate or have any questions about the market, or buying or selling, shoot me an email at [email protected] or give me a call at 778-387-7371.
