What’s Happening in the East Van Real Estate Market?
Hello WeLoveEastVan readers, I hope you enjoy a nice Family Day weekend! As usual, real estate continues moving through the holidays, so you’ll find us at our weekend Open Houses and out and about viewing property with Buyers.
Given that January comes at the start of the year and after the long Christmas holidays, it’s often the start of a new real estate cycle. January is typically slow to start, but I find the beginning of the year a good opportunity to get a sense of what to expect for the Spring Real Estate Market. In short, it’s still busy, but different price points are experiencing different things.
The Government made another announcement this month – they will be exempting those with work permits from paying the 15% foreign buyers tax – a welcome change to those new to living and working in Canada and a good idea if you ask me. Another exciting announcement was at our Brokerage’s Annual Kickoff breakfast, where the Zwick Chimes Real Estate Team (that’s us!) was awarded the #1 Team at RE/MAX Crest Westside, an honour we’re very proud to receive.
As for the market, it’s been a busy two weeks. The first few weeks of the month were quite slow (which is typical) but the second two weeks have been busy with new listings (and re-lists from the fall), multiple offers and quick sales. If this is an indication of what to expect this Spring, prepare for a similar market to the last two years. I’m finding that that market under $800k is very busy with Buyers, so expect to compete in multiple offers on properties (especially the good ones). This activity is due to a few things.. never ending demand from Buyers looking to get into the market (and for good reason); low inventory; the Government’s new First Time Buyers Loan Program; downsizers; investors; and second time Buyers needing a larger unit to house their growing family. The detached house market is surely the slowest market we’re seeing.. good properties are still selling (and sometimes in multiple offers) but the days on market is getting longer and average price looks to be evening out. What will help ease off this demand? More supply (I’m looking at you City of Vancouver).
Looking at the numbers, the sales to active ratio in East Vancouver was 41% for condos (it was 38% last January, and was higher throughout 2016), 22% for townhouses (it was 28% last January and higher throughout 2016), and 8% for detached houses (it was 29% last January and started dropping in May).
(Green is Detached Houses, Blue is Townhouses, Orange is Condos)
Total Inventory:
Sales to Active Ratio:
HPI (Home Price Index) Price (remember, this is different than Average Price):
For our specific updates on each market, check out our blogs below..
East Vancouver Condo Market Update
East Vancouver Townhouse and Half Duplex Market Update
East Vancouver Detached House Market Update
Contact us if you need anything real estate related – the market is in full swing so call us to chat about listing/marketing your property, and what to expect as a Buyer when competing in multiple offers. As usual, pricing strategy is important in the busy low-end market and the slow high-end market, so knowing how a property is price (low to generate multiple offers, fair based on previous sales and high to leave room to negotiate) is a very important factor in negotiation.
As usual, I suggest you speak with a mortgage broker (see our recommendations) if you’re looking to purchase a property this year. They can ensure that your short term and long term financials goals are taken into account when it comes to your affordability, and can set you down the right path if purchasing property isn’t in your immediate future.
If you want to chat real estate, shoot me an email 🙂
