Will Vancouver Condos Keep Flying out the Door?

June 29th, 2009 Categories: Real Estate

Vancouver’s real estate market started bubbling in January. I was in a multiple offer situation back then and noticed an increase in buyer inquiries compared to last Fall. In February I noticed condos that were priced right were selling in 30 days. But April was when it went crazy and it hasn’t stopped since.

I listed or sold within a week, condos in the Capers building, Citadel Parade, 1616 Bayshore Drive, 2057 W. 3rd, The Qube, Aquarius 1 and many had multiple offers.

If sales for June are less than May I believe it’s because the listings aren’t keeping pace with the sales. Vancouver west side has fewer listings than they did a year ago and the sales for June will be more than June 2008.

Currently I receive more inquiries from potential buyers than potential sellers. Many of my associates share the same opinion.

Where have all the Vancouver sellers gone? Last Fall the market was saturated with listings. Some rented their condos out, so they’ll be off the market til Fall at least. Are they waiting til Spring hoping for an increase in prices? Will prices continue to move up? Some are waiting to buy after the Olympics, thinking prices will drop. How will the current world economic situation effect the Vancouver real estate market?

Share your opinion with us.

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 9:00 am and is filed under Real Estate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Al said:

I think its quite obvious where the potential Sellers have gone. Prices have dropped significantly in Vancouver and Sellers generally do not wish to sell at a loss, therefore they aren’t in this current market at all. With prices down about 12 to 15% in the past year (a pretty sizeable decline) many Vancouver Condo owners in particular are sitting on prety hefty losses. Factor in Realtor commisions on top of the say, 13% drop in prices and you are probably looking at a close to 20% loss for anyone buying property in 2007 or 2008, which is a fair chunk of the market. I, myself bought my Apartment in November 2007, when it was already down about $40,000 from the peak and looking at current prices in my building (next to Coal Harbour) my unit would likely sell for $80,000 less than that peak total. So, my current loss would be $40,000 from where I bought it and adding Realtor and Lawyer fees if I was to sell now, the total loss would likely be around $75,000.
Thus I’m not in the market to sell, although in a better housing market I may have been. I suspect there are thousands of people in my position – they can’t afford to lose $75,000 so they cannot sell and will stay in their properties for several years to come (not necessarily a bad thing).
thanks

# 29 June 2009 at 1:27 pm