Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[Gerbs]

^ it's not slowed that bad is it lol.

Even a 10% to 20% correction isn't that bad considering the fat gains over the last couple of years.

[Traum]

Is the condo / apartment market cooling down that noticeably as well? I know the detached home market is very quiet, but I didn't think the condo / apartment side of things are that bad as well.

At my complex, the (low rise) apartment units still seem to be moving at a reasonable pace. The town house units are moving much slower, with 2 of them being stale on the market for probably 4+ months now.

I'd be quite surprised to hear that even the apartment / condo market is quiet. Home ownership is still a thing, isn't it?

[Hehe]

Originally Posted by Traum

Is the condo / apartment market cooling down that noticeably as well? I know the detached home market is very quiet, but I didn't think the condo / apartment side of things are that bad as well.

At my complex, the (low rise) apartment units still seem to be moving at a reasonable pace. The town house units are moving much slower, with 2 of them being stale on the market for probably 4+ months now.

I'd be quite surprised to hear that even the apartment / condo market is quiet. Home ownership is still a thing, isn't it?

IMO the thing now is the GREED is on the buyer side. No matter condo or detached.

A buddy of mine is in this situation... he's looking for a detached in the 1-1.5M range.

When he started looking about a year ago when his long-term LL told him that he's looking to sell the place and the fact that he and his wife were looking to have a kid. At the time, people would sometimes laugh at him on his offers when he wasn't even lowballing (he was offering assessment + or - a few % depending on what he saw). Then his landlord scratched the idea of selling the place, so my buddy decided to take it slow and only buy something he really likes at the price he wants to pay.

It wasn't easy a year back... it's even more difficult today because asking price of new listings are dropping on a weekly basis... and my buddy went from "ok, I pay assessment plus a few % if the house is right" to "ok, I'd pay assessment" to now "if I can't lowball the crap out of the seller at below assessment, I'm not interested. Who knows how far this would go?"

He can easily afford a place at that price, but it's the GREED of being scarce that makes a 180-degree turn on his attitude.

So... buyers are now looking for good deals. If it's not, the transaction doesn't happen. Wait a few more months, if the downward trend doesn't stop... it'd be THE bloodbath; only SWEET deals will have any chance of selling. And it would continue until market condition improves.

[G]

Originally Posted by Gerbs

^ it's not slowed that bad is it lol.

Even a 10% to 20% correction isn't that bad considering the fat gains over the last couple of years.

I would say it slowed a bit. Not that many 2 bedroom apartments are being listed, and the ones that are listed are sitting.

1 Bedrooms (which is what mine is) is still pretty hot, but in my development (Wall Centre Central Park) the third tower completed and an influx of listings came up... I think at one point 40-45 listings were active between the whole development. This last weekend I walked by the third tower that finished and there were at least 10 signs outside the main entrance and just a huddle of people. I guess some people are desperate and dropped the price which caused the overall average price per sq.ft. to drop a bit. At the high point during last summer/fall it was hovering around $1200 per sq.ft. but now the high point is around $1050 with average being closer to the $975-$1000 mark. Not bad, but still...

[twitchyzero]

market correction, i say
Joyce is no Coal Harbour
i was there few years back right before prices shot up

[nah]

Originally Posted by Hehe

IMO the thing now is the GREED is on the buyer side. No matter condo or detached.

A buddy of mine is in this situation... he's looking for a detached in the 1-1.5M range.

When he started looking about a year ago when his long-term LL told him that he's looking to sell the place and the fact that he and his wife were looking to have a kid. At the time, people would sometimes laugh at him on his offers when he wasn't even lowballing (he was offering assessment + or - a few % depending on what he saw). Then his landlord scratched the idea of selling the place, so my buddy decided to take it slow and only buy something he really likes at the price he wants to pay.

It wasn't easy a year back... it's even more difficult today because asking price of new listings are dropping on a weekly basis... and my buddy went from "ok, I pay assessment plus a few % if the house is right" to "ok, I'd pay assessment" to now "if I can't lowball the crap out of the seller at below assessment, I'm not interested. Who knows how far this would go?"

He can easily afford a place at that price, but it's the GREED of being scarce that makes a 180-degree turn on his attitude.

So... buyers are now looking for good deals. If it's not, the transaction doesn't happen. Wait a few more months, if the downward trend doesn't stop... it'd be THE bloodbath; only SWEET deals will have any chance of selling. And it would continue until market condition improves.

I'm waiting for the drop as well. The right time might be in the fall. Also seeing forced sales from people maybe not being able to renew mortgages at the higher rate.

[Hondaracer]

I don’t think that will really be the case.

Historically you’d have to assume now and into the summer is the time to buy as it’s always the slowest period. The fall could see a ramp up in sales, especially if prices continue to fall or stagnate until then

[quasi]

Originally Posted by Hehe

IMO the thing now is the GREED is on the buyer side. No matter condo or detached.

A buddy of mine is in this situation... he's looking for a detached in the 1-1.5M range.

When he started looking about a year ago when his long-term LL told him that he's looking to sell the place and the fact that he and his wife were looking to have a kid. At the time, people would sometimes laugh at him on his offers when he wasn't even lowballing (he was offering assessment + or - a few % depending on what he saw). Then his landlord scratched the idea of selling the place, so my buddy decided to take it slow and only buy something he really likes at the price he wants to pay.

It wasn't easy a year back... it's even more difficult today because asking price of new listings are dropping on a weekly basis... and my buddy went from "ok, I pay assessment plus a few % if the house is right" to "ok, I'd pay assessment" to now "if I can't lowball the crap out of the seller at below assessment, I'm not interested. Who knows how far this would go?"

He can easily afford a place at that price, but it's the GREED of being scarce that makes a 180-degree turn on his attitude.

So... buyers are now looking for good deals. If it's not, the transaction doesn't happen. Wait a few more months, if the downward trend doesn't stop... it'd be THE bloodbath; only SWEET deals will have any chance of selling. And it would continue until market condition improves.

This is my situation, I'm looking to move if I find what I feel is the right deal. I don't have to move but if I find the right house at the right price I'll pull the trigger. I've been watching the listing pretty close the last year and it's slowed for sure in the area I'm looking no matter what BS some realtors try and spew.

[68style]

Originally Posted by nah

I'm waiting for the drop as well. The right time might be in the fall. Also seeing forced sales from people maybe not being able to renew mortgages at the higher rate.

Not that I’m an expert or a fortune teller, but do you know how many times in the past 15 years people have said this exact statement? And here we are at 3-4x the prices of places in 2003... just saying

[westopher]

This is the first time however that there have been serious measures being put in place other than the foreign buyers tax, (which was just political games so krusty Clark could smile on TV.) with the new short term rentals rules and fees brought into play, supply should go up as a lot of investors are going to be in trouble with that.
Not saying it’s gonna happen, but there’s never been a more likely time for a substantial drop.
I’m sure the developers however will just start limiting supply again and “all the savvy real estate investors” will continue to be able to tell the younger generations how they should be smarter and just work harder.

[68style]

Even a massive 20% drop, which is unheard of (that’s about what happened in most places in USA most severely affected by their mortgage crisis), wouldn’t even put us back to January 2018 prices for condos lol...

[Acurapinoy]

I am also waiting for a good deal (living at home to save for a detached but i havent followed the news lately).

Are you guys renting? My coworker sold his condo last year hoping to upgrade to a detached but he is waiting it out while renting a house for almost 3k a month. His first year is almost up so thats almost 40k in rental alone.. thats just nuts how fast time goes.

Detached homes near me still sells as well(last one sold for 985k for a 2000sqft within a few days..home was assessed at 870? And 1985build iirc and on a main street..) i guess the "decent" looking homes still sell.

And if it does ever fall..me and anyone else looking will be battling eachother and maybe the foreigners too lol

I do want to see what this market will be like before school starts again.

[quasi]

Originally Posted by Acurapinoy

I am also waiting for a good deal (living at home to save for a detached but i havent followed the news lately).

Are you guys renting? My coworker sold his condo last year hoping to upgrade to a detached but he is waiting it out while renting a house for almost 3k a month. His first year is almost up so thats almost 40k in rental alone.. thats just nuts how fast time goes.

I own a detached, I want to buy an older (smaller) detached on a larger lot with a bit of privacy for hot tub and a place for my dogs to play. I don't mind doing some renovations like a new kitchen and flooring but I don't want to have to gut the entire house. I'd much rather buy in a buyers market even though it means I have to sell in one.

[hud 91gt]

I bought earlier in the year for low 600’s. A larger 3 bedroom unit in the same complex is available for $699. Same $/sq/f. Then some nut bar just listed their unit, exactly the same as mine for $689 lol. I don’t foresee that selling. It’s slower out here, the good units still sell. I think everyone is just use to seeing everything selling no matter what it is.

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by Acurapinoy

I am also waiting for a good deal (living at home to save for a detached but i havent followed the news lately).

Are you guys renting? My coworker sold his condo last year hoping to upgrade to a detached but he is waiting it out while renting a house for almost 3k a month. His first year is almost up so thats almost 40k in rental alone.. thats just nuts how fast time goes.

Detached homes near me still sells as well(last one sold for 985k for a 2000sqft within a few days..home was assessed at 870? And 1985build iirc and on a main street..) i guess the "decent" looking homes still sell.

And if it does ever fall..me and anyone else looking will be battling eachother and maybe the foreigners too lol

I do want to see what this market will be like before school starts again.

Has this type of scenario honestly ever worked out for ANYONE? lol..

Selling your place at a high then trying to time the market to buy somthing else? every single time i've seen this scenario play out it has -never- worked out lol.. 40k in rent, i'm sure the mortgage on the old place was substantially less than that and he would have actually been building equity in the process.

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

Has this type of scenario honestly ever worked out for ANYONE? lol..

Selling your place at a high then trying to time the market to buy somthing else? every single time i've seen this scenario play out it has -never- worked out lol.. 40k in rent, i'm sure the mortgage on the old place was substantially less than that and he would have actually been building equity in the process.

Selling my unit in July. I can always move back to my parent's place for a few months and then see how the market is. Best of all?Rent free and I don't have to cook my own meals?Bad part? No more freedom.... tough choice

[Hondaracer]

the problem with that wait and see attitude, even if you are essentially "living for free" is that you are no longer in the market, and therefore not gaining the equity to keep pace with prices. In real estate everything is relative. If your property goes up or goes down X amount, most likely the other properties you are looking at are following suit.

Being out of the market and not having that equity at least engaged always seems like a losing equation for me. Since you are seemingly looking to buy somthing else with the money you made from the sale, i'd assume you're not going to be investing that money short term in between sale and purchase either

[westopher]

The argument that if you are in the market things go down at the same rate can be a net gain for those looking to upgrade. Net loss if you are looking to downsize.
Edit, sorry I wasn't clear. I meant if you are staying in the market, as in selling one place to directly buy another, even if your home drops, the upgrade will drop the same percentage, which means a close in actual dollars spent gap.

[68style]

Selling out completely only works if you're moving away somewhere else entirely... to buy back into the same market later hoping for a correction, in order to re-capture the realtor commission costs and taxes alone you'd have to see a 20+% drop in whatever you want to buy to "win"... and even then it's dodgy.

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

the problem with that wait and see attitude, even if you are essentially "living for free" is that you are no longer in the market, and therefore not gaining the equity to keep pace with prices. In real estate everything is relative. If your property goes up or goes down X amount, most likely the other properties you are looking at are following suit.

Being out of the market and not having that equity at least engaged always seems like a losing equation for me. Since you are seemingly looking to buy somthing else with the money you made from the sale, i'd assume you're not going to be investing that money short term in between sale and purchase either

I expect to be in my parents place no longer than 3 months. Hopefully within 2 months. So it shouldn't be too bad. If price drops I can lowball the seller a bit. If price raise it won't be a lot anyways.

[hud 91gt]

That’s not a bad move. Generally that is what is required during slower times. Subject to selling unit can be a tough sell and most people cannot finance two places at once. Banking on your selling right away is risky.

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by hud 91gt

That’s not a bad move. Generally that is what is required during slower times. Subject to selling unit can be a tough sell and most people cannot finance two places at once. Banking on your selling right away is risky.

I just didn't want to put myself in that spot.
When I sold my unit and can't find a place I really like so I am force to buy something I don't like or I made an offer to a place and no one is buying mine so I have lower the price to sell it.

This way I can wait it out and sell at the price I willing to without being force to and I can pick the unit I want at the right price.

[quasi]

Originally Posted by 68style

Selling out completely only works if you're moving away somewhere else entirely... to buy back into the same market later hoping for a correction, in order to re-capture the realtor commission costs and taxes alone you'd have to see a 20+% drop in whatever you want to buy to "win"... and even then it's dodgy.

Yup, realtor fees, property transfer fees, closing costs, moving costs, property tax on new place. I live in the burbs and if I bought a house that costs the exact same as mine it still is going to cost me 50 grand in all that shit that comes along with selling and moving.

I could move back to Sask. and be mortgage free in a nicer house then I have here but the only problem with that is I'd have to live in Sask.

[Alpine]

The open houses at my building near science world were pretty slow this past weekend. 2x 1bed units for sale and both realtors spent the majority of Sat/Sun chatting in the lobby. Seems common to see open houses lasting weeks+ now (as opposed to 1 week or less in the past few years).

[Gerbs]

^ how much