Vancouver Real Estate Market Cooling?

Real Estate Market Cooling?

47 Sales in Vancouver today & 33 yesterday including West Van waterfront for $10,000,000; West Van Estate for $22,000,000; West Van Building Lot for $3,300,000; and Shangri la Condo for $3,100,000 on the high end. The low end remains busy starting with a studio sale in The Max Downtown for $290,000, and units at Vista Place are finally selling as a 2 bedroom sold for $600,000!

Conclusion: Be careful what you read in The Vancouver Sun;)

Listings traditionally pile up in the spring and the summer is typically slower as Westerners enjoy the Weather and Vacation Time. I would look for a bump in activity later this month as Buyers with fixed rates fear losing them after the 90 day hold period, then a few months of a Buyers market where low ball offers have their best chance, then the Fall Market will bring more activity and increased consumer confidence as HST is adjusted for and interest rates still remain low.

While there are some question marks that warrant our concern, such as the economy, job market, & interest rates; a key factor is our positive stream of foreign migration & investment. With our Open Border policy and our top rated banking system people and money will continue coming to Vancouver and People need houses and in the long run real estate out performs stocks and mutual funds with a fraction of the risk! So like my first year Economic Professor at Gonzaga or my graduate professor Tsur Sommerville at UBC preached for months, "Supply and Demand drives every economy." Well here we are in the Most beautiful city in The Word, surrounded by a border, mountains, and the ocean; fair enough to say supply is fairly limited, so as Demand undoubtedly continues to grow, fundamentally so will our prices.

Real Estate Acquisition, whether for occupancy or for investment, enables the Buyer to take advantage of LEVERAGE. Unlike any other form of investing, real estate only requires 5-10% down to become an Owner. So if you put $25K down on a $500K purchase that doubles in 10 years, that's $500K profit off of a $25K initial investment (not to mention paying down principle on your mortgage monthly!)

So in conclusion, I predict the market plateaus for a few months, good real estate will sell, bad will not, motivated sellers may lose money, others will wait, in the end Vancouver Real Estate will inflate and now, being a superb time to get in the market with cheap borrowing costs, no HST, and lots of supply, may be the time we look back on saying I wish I had bought then:)

If you have any questions, call, text, tweet (StuBellRealtor), facebook, or message me at 604.562.0632!

Best Regards,

Stu Bell