For the last few years, the Metro Vancouver real estate market has been busy... like super-duper crazy busy!
You've read it in the papers and seen it on the news. Previously unheard of phrases like no subjects, over asking, multiple offers, no inspection have become normal part of our vocabulary. Pre-sales sold out in hours with hopeful buyers camping overnight for a chance at homes still 4 years from being built. Realtors cringed while Buyers crossed out financing and inspection clauses praying to make their offers more competitive. People wrote contracts sight unseen, at first showings and open houses. Overall - it was madness!
Then, slowly, the overall market started showing signs of segmentation. Condos and townhomes were slow but single family homes and luxury properties continued their march. Overnight, everything flipped and attached listings flared up while detached fizzled. Then came the localized housing booms in affordable areas until those neighbourhoods were no longer affordable and bargain hunters moved their chaos to different parts of town.
Most recently, most of that madness has settled. All market segments are moving, but for the first time in years - there is no frenzy. What does that mean? What happened to the multiple offers, no subjects and chaotic open houses? Is it a market crash? Is this what it looks like when the bubble finally bursts?
No need to panic. Not at all.
We're now in what I call a normal housing market.
It's time to breathe.
After so many years of roller-coaster highs and lows, it is finally time to go back to roots of what buying and selling real estate is supposed to be like. Sure things will move a bit slower. Houses will take longer to sell and buyers will take longer to buy. But that is more than fine with me and realistically what the market has been like 90% of the time before the past few years. In the end this slower pace will afford buyers sufficient time to find their dream home, sellers the opportunity to negotiate and hammer out the best possible deal, and a period of sanity, due diligence and legal review ensuring all parties are satisfied before the sale is finalized.
This Realtor doesn't have a crystal ball and there's no telling on where the market, legislative and banking forces will take us in the future. But for now, I am definitely going to enjoy taking a breath, feeling the excitement of shopping for the perfect home, and savour the professional pride in providing exceptional full-service for all my buying and selling clients.
