suzied.ca

Busy market conditions have meant that I have been anything but timely with my blog posts! To summarize the current situation in one statement: if you have been waiting to buy low…your too late!

The summer saw slow gains and moderate sales throughout the valley, but September and October have seen big gains over last year’s volumes. Combined with higher consumer confidence and lingering amazing low interest rates, as well as a depleted lower end inventory, we are starting to see some strong signs of a stabilizing market…if not sporadic evidence of moderate INCREASES. Although incidence of strong gains are hard to track, with the science of statistical averages painting only a very broad picture - there are specific examples to be found. In April, I sold a 2 bdrm, 2 bath downtown condo to a hard working single woman… for the crazy GREAT price of $175,000. D’arcy was a first time buyer, with retirement plans in the long range goal, and the need of scoring a tremendous deal large on her priority list. I was confident we were able to do just that - and I strongly believe she capitalized on the bottom of the market. Since her sale a corner unit ( slightly larger but on the same floor and in similar condition) sold for $220,000! The cause; lack of supply of affordable,urban, non age restricted condos! I couldn’t be more pleased that D’arcy is already in a positive equity situation after only a few months!

Lack of supply is expected to continue throughout the winter months, as it seasonally tends to be a market less homeowners want to try to sell in - but in truth it could be a GREAT time to sell if your situated in a high demand segment as it means less competition. High supply levels still exist in higher end ( over $600,000 single family homes and condos/ townhomes over $350,000) so there are still allot of great deals to be had if you want to buy up!

Investors are back, the future looks bright, and their are still choices sitting anywhere from 10% - 15% off peak market levels of early 2008. My top investment picks are still Peachland flats ( walk to the beach, self contained home for under 350,000 ), Lakeview Heights ( just sold my sister a home there, so I MUST be serious on that recommendation :), as well as anything with a view! View properties tend to be more volatile than non view properties - in a hot market they will sell for a large premium, but in a softer market, they tend to get lumped with all the other competition. It is my experience that when prices rise, view homes can out pace the rest of the market by about an extra 5%.

As we rapidly gear up for the holiday season, I wish you all time to enjoy one of the most beautiful times of year in our scenic valley! If you would like more detailed information on a changes in a particular market segment, please don’t hesitate to email me or call with your requests. I also have begun emailing out a monthly statistical review, and would be happy to add you to the program.

Cheers!

Suzie

This entry was posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 2:50 am and is filed under Uncategorized. 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.