So, what is going on in our market? In a nutshell, detached houses continue to be pretty quiet across the board. Attached strata condo, townhomes, and half duplexes continue to be the hottest product available! While the majority of our attached strata condos and townhomes sell with multiple offers pushing the values ever higher, many houses can sit for weeks before there is an offer on the table. As you can see below for both Westside and Eastside product detached houses clearly fall into the buyer’s market category while the two attached strata product are well into strong seller’s markets.
While our Provincial governments would like to take the credit for the slower detached market saying that “this is part of a grand plan to make housing affordable”, they can’t. Prices for houses that are selling have remained relatively stable with only minor drops in price, only the volume of sales have fallen significantly. So, while the Foreign Home Buyer tax increase, the new Speculators Tax, and the Federal Mortgage Stress Test have slowed the market, they have by no means made housing more affordable. In fact, since the bulk of activity has now shifted over to strata product, we have seen the price in this category sky rocket making entry level condos and upgrade townhomes/duplexes unaffordable for many local families. The Stress Test has further hindered families from purchasing their first or second homes.
Having two polarized and disjointed markets puts too much pressure on various price bands and product resulting in dramatic swings and hot spots. It makes purchasing and selling homes more unpredictable and more stressful for clients. But, holding true since the times of King Solomon, and as I have said many times before, “this too shall pass”. At some point our markets will reach a point where the trend stops, stabilizes, and then returns back to a more balanced market. And a balanced market in all product would be happily welcomed by sellers and buyers alike.
We are always here to help you and your friends, we are never too busy to help, and no transaction is too small.
