Hello WeLoveEastVan.com readers. I hope you had a great long weekend vacation!
The Real Estate Market has also been on a bit of a vacation, which is pretty typical for July and August, though the feeling is heightened this year thanks to Buyer fatigue and increasing interest rates and mortgage regulations. The detached market has been a Balanced/Buyers market for months now, while the condo and townhouse market are still fairly strong when it comes to good inventory. Units in bad buildings, not as desirable location (i.e. on a busy street), priced too high or needing big renos are the units experiencing a slower market and Buyer’s are using their negotiation power. Having said that, the condo market in East Van is still quite strong for good units.
The HPI Prices for condos, townhouses and detached houses are:
Condos: $568,900 (down from $573k last month)
Townhouses: $892,600 (down from $923k last month)
Detached Houses: $1,535,500 (down from $1.541-million last month)
Inventory hasn’t been very high this summer, but it will increase in September. The number of detached house listings decreased pretty significantly this past month. It could be the Sellers choosing not to sell, or the Sellers choosing to postpone a potential sale until the Fall, so it will be interesting to see if the inventory increases significantly in September for detached houses. The number of condos available has been increasing since December, though the number of townhouses available for sale has been pretty steady since April.
Mortgage regulations haven’t gotten any easier, so I don’t expect to see the same intense competition we saw over the last few years, but I also don’t expect prices to drop considerably as most Sellers aren’t keen to let go of their property for much less than what they could’ve gotten a few months ago, but every situation is different. I’ve definitely seen some good buys this past summer, so if you see a property sitting on the market that you’re interested in, get a conversation going with the Seller. The listing agent will never say that the Seller is desperate to sell, but you find out when you start negotiating.
As for some advice:
Sellers, be aware of what your real value is. Don’t sell yourself short, but don’t impede your own sale with unrealistic expectations and a high asking price. Now more than ever you need to give Buyers a reason to choose your property, so make sure the little handyman jobs are done, the property is staged and clean and that your agent can sell the benefits.
Buyers, do your research. Know what other similar units are selling for and why. Don’t judge a unit by it’s asking price as there could be some negotiation room. Remember that conditional offers are the norm right now so you can submit an offer subject to further research, and cancel the offer if you discover details that don’t work for you. As usual, talk to a mortgage broker to know what your options are and what makes the most sense for you financially.
Mortgage Rules are constantly changing, and are way more intricate than you can imagine, so talk to a professional so you know what your options are, if you should pay off other debts first, or wait until you get that promotion you’re expecting. 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 of your mortgage.
As always, if you want more information about the markets you’re looking to buy or sell out of, just let me know. I love chatting real estate so give me a call (778-387-7371), or shoot me an email: [email protected].
Given that summer has been a bit slower, I’m going to keep my market update for this month short. Let’s take a look at the specific market stats:
East Van Condo Market Update
The East Van condo market is still pretty strong overall. It’s nowhere near the activity levels that we saw over the last couple of years, but the market has some energy.
The sales to active ratio is 40% for studios/1 bedroom units, 29& for 2 bedroom units and 36% for 3 bedroom units. The numbers indicate that it’s still a Seller’s market, but it feels much slower out there.
Inventory has been climbing quickly. We’ve seen almost double the amount of 1 and 2 bedroom units available this month compared to March, and this is the most amount of inventory we’ve seen since the Fall of 2015 – so Buyers, there hasn’t been a better time to start looking than right now.
There has been a slight dip in sale prices of 1 bedroom units, though 2 bedroom units have remained steady. The average and median prices are:
Studios and 1 Bedrooms: $537,581 ($910/sqft) and $517,000 ($902/sqft)
2 Bedrooms: $796,162 ($884/sqft) and $752,450 ($869/sqft)
3 Bedrooms: $1,275,750 ($1063/sqft) and $1,063,400 ($1042/sqft)
The average days on market is 22 days for studios/1 bedrooms and 20 days for 2 bedrooms.
East Van Townhouse Market Update
The East Van townhouse market is varied, depending on the price point. 1 and 2 bedroom townhouses are still quite active, though 3 bedroom townhouses aren’t as busy, and for two reason: many of them are leasehold properties in South Van and the rest are generally quite expensive.
The sales to active ratio for studio/1 bedroom townhouses was 100%, 2 bedroom townhouses was 27% and for 3 bedroom townhouses it was 19%.
Inventory has been climbing for 3 bedroom townhouses has been climbing to the highest level we’ve seen in almost 5 years. The 2 bedroom townhouse market actually saw a drop in inventory this past month, though we haven’t seen a ton of variance in this market. The studio/1 bedroom townhouse market is quite small, and doesn’t have more than a handful of options at any one time.
The average and median prices are:
Studios and 1 Bedrooms: $695,500 ($963/sqft) ***There were only 2 sales this past month
2 Bedrooms: $781,000 ($694/sqft) and $700,000 ($570/sqft)
3 Bedrooms: $990,300 ($796/sqft) and $949,900 ($724/sqft)
Most of the sales last month were in the South Van area (i.e. Fraserview, Champlain Heights, etc) which brings the average down. Any 3 bedroom condo closer to downtown (i.e. Mount Pleasant, Grandview. etc) will be over $1-million.
The average days on market was 8 days for studios/1 bedrooms, 14 days for 2 bedrooms and 23 days for 3 bedrooms.
East Van Detached House Market Update
The East Van detached house market continues to be quite slow – a definite Buyers Market. One thing I’ve been saying for a few months now remains true – there is a lot of bad inventory on the market. It’s either priced too high or in original condition, which is a state not many buyers have the resources to work with.
The sales to active ratio was 8% for both re-sale and new construction properties.
Inventory levels have remained fairly steady. 816 re-sale options and 38 new construction properties, though sales have dropped significantly. May saw 136 re-sale property sales, while July saw 65. The number of new construction sales remained at 3.
The average and median price are:
Re-Sale: $1,570,747 ($762/sqft) and $1,513,000 ($696/sqft)
New Construction: $2,570,000 ($962/sqft) and $2,550,000 ($1,017/sqft)
The average days on market was 34 days for re-sale homes and 26 days for new construction.
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.
