The Inside Scoop....

Once again, the past week showed very stable sales numbers.  104 properties were sold, compared to 106 and 104 in the previous two weeks.  The number of new listings is just very slightly less, 194, compared with 219 and 217 in the previous two weeks.  What is different from last week, is that roughly half of the properties sold were over $500,000, with 23 sales between $1 mil and $3 mil, and two properties sold over $3 million. The official month end statistics will be out next week, but we s ... Full Article...

In a Buyer’s market, Sellers are often faced with "low-ball" offers.  There are many aspects to an offer that can be attractive to a Seller in spite of the price, such as conditions or "subjects", the amount of deposit, dates, included items, etc..  Some Sellers, faced with a low priced offer, but few conditions, ideal dates, and no other wierd clauses in a contract, will take your offer more seriously than an offer that is cluttered with crazy conditions, and likely will negotiate a pric ... Full Article...

The stats for this past week are almost a carbon copy of the previous week, with 106 sales, versus 104 last week, and 219 new listings versus 217 last week.  The lion's share of sales were under $500,000, and while the Media continues to use their scare tactics to intimidate buyers in this "buyer's market", 19 properties over $1 million were reported sold last week.  Two of those were over $2 million.   The word I am getting at Open Houses is that many would-be buyers are confused, and feel sa ... Full Article...

32, 40, 41, 57, 69, 104 Nope, these are not this week’s lotto numbers, but the number of sales reported in the Westside for the past 6 consecutive weeks.  Notice a trend?  Although prices are not climbing, and likely won’t any time soon, we seem to be moving toward some market stablization compared with the past few months, when buyers literally went on strike.  Many Realtors® are reporting very busy showings and open houses (compared with recent past), which will eventually lead to ... Full Article...

A lovely 1 bedroom apartment in Kitsilano has just been reported sold for $3,000 over the list price.  The asking price was in the low $300's.  We've seen a few of these "over list" sales in the past couple of weeks.  This is not an indication of prices going up, but rather, an establishment of value to buyers.  The number of sales reported this week is up again, and it is starting to look like the market is gaining some momentum, to the point where there is actual data to reasonably establish ... Full Article...

A charming house in the Cambie neighborhood has just been reported sold, at $10,000 over the list price, within 7 days of coming to market.  This home was very sharply priced, and once again, buyers reacted favourably.

In this uncertain market, buyers are certainly shopping for bargains.  A 2 bedroom "starter" condo in Kitsilano recently sold $8,000 over the asking price.  This property was priced at $315,000 and, and buyers responded with offers, bringing the selling price up to $323,000. 

The number of homes Sold in the Westside are starting to edge up ever so slightly, a trend we haven't seen since last October.  The number of homes sold in the last 3 consecutive weeks are 41, 57, and 69.  Given the activity level of showings compared with last fall, we should see this trend continue into the Spring market.  The recent drop in interest rates means that buyers can lock into a much lower mortgage payment now, rather than waiting to time the bottom of the market, which would be a ... Full Article...

A house in the Cambie neighborhood has just sold for $13,750 over list price.  Last week, a Kerrisdale townhouse sold $23,000 over list price.  These are examples of properties priced to reflect the corrections that have occurred in the past few months.  A few of our colleagues have experienced multiple offers in the past week, in some cases under list price, or not wildly over asking price, but nonetheless, within the range of today’s market value.  Prices may bump around for a while, bu ... Full Article...

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver has just released the Housing Price Index for the month of January, which indicates a levelling off of prices over the past three months:   Oct/08 Nov/08 Dec/08 Jan/09 Det. $1,279,528 $1,116,267 $1,165,007 $1,134,773 Att. $630,738 $569,949 $609,623 $650,919 Apt. $448,630 $428,548 $424,509 $425,678   The price of townhomes looks like it is on a rollercoaster, however, this is due to an insignificant number of sales to make an analysis of the pric ... Full Article...