13 December 2007
The #1 question!
Posted by Ryan Coffey under: Nanaimo Real Estate Market .
Usually, when people who aren’t in the business want to get me started on talking about real estate, they start with “How’s the real estate market going?” or some variant of this question. Not usually sure how much they want to hear, and trying to be informative without being so self centered as to talk their ear off, I give the summary of something like “Well, it’s still going up quite quickly actually. It’s bound to change one day, but I have not seen or heard any indication of it changing anytime soon.”
If you’ve read some of the other stuff I’ve written lately, you’ll have noticed that I’ve tackled this question already, however read on, I’m substantiating my claims with some new info each time. To paraphrase a great teacher of mine in Japan “People who think there is only one way to do something don’t understand it very well.” No, he wasn’t talking about real estate blogging, but it’s a lesson I have found to be a cornerstone of success in many fields.
Now, let’s get beyond my personal theories about good economy, the plethora of retiring baby boomers who are and will continue to moving to this ever popular region for retirees, the notion that the Olympics of 2010 will open the world’s eyes to this corner of the world in a way that will make Expo 86 seem insignificant by comparison. I could go on about how living out here compares to the rest of the world, but you get the idea. Besides, I’ll touch on that on later posts.
You can view the latest stats that I’ve been able to collect from VIREB (Vancouver Island Real Estate Board) here.
Usually, they’re completed for the previous month about a week after it ends, but they’ve changed their system of late and are a bit behind. October and November are not currently available in the usual format. But they’ve issued some press releases for those which you can view here and here.
But more in the style of a reporter, let me give you the highlights of these and other stats.
There was a 22% increase in the average sale price of homes in the Nanaimo area from October 2006 to October 2007. This was the highest increase in the VIREB area, followed closely by Campbell River at 21%. It does bear mentioning however, that this pattern does vary considerably year to year and which communities have the highest increase in one year are not necessarily likely to be the leaders in the following year.
In the November press release “VIREB President Jennifer Lynch says market momentum is continuing. “For the last eight months in a row, overall monthly sales volume has increased from the same month in the previous year. The increase in sales volume has also stimulated a solid price appreciation in all areas throughout the Board,”
“Lynch says all of the economic conditions remain in place for a strong housing market heading into the New
Year.
“Consumer confidence remains high. We’re seeing low unemployment rates, a cut in the GST for the New
Year and historically low mortgage rates set against the relatively affordable housing prices of our board
area,” she says.
“Now is a great time to use a professional REALTOR®, who can also advise on neighbourhood specific
trends and amenities, eye-catching improvements you can make to enhance ‘curb appeal’ and which
specialists you need for repairs, financing and legal services.” ”
But why just listen to one source? Here’s what CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) is saying about rental vacancies :
Vacancy rates in Nanaimo have dropped significantly from October ’06 to October ’07. We’re looking at a situation where there are nearly half the number of rental vacancies as there were year before. In the CMHC stats they report a reduction vacancies from about 1.9% in October 06 to about 1% in October 07. Rental prices across the province have increased during the same time period and Nanaimo is no exception.
Still not satisfied? How about this one: a few weeks back at a company meeting my managing broker told us that by November 19th, our office had already dealt with more files (that means sales and listings to you non realtors) than the entire previous November, and that previous November was a record breaker. So, in less two thirds of the way through the month this November, the record had been broken.
Ok, I’ll stop labouring the point and move on to another one which I don’t think is mentioned often enough. The above stats and info is more for those who are treating their homes as investment than those who are in need of a place to live. Yes, of course I know that regardless of what purpose you are buying real estate for, it is good to keep an eye on its value and am totaly agreement with this notion. This is a given, but I fairly frequently see people who are in need of a home stressing themselves out and maybe costing themselves money as they try to calculate all the minutia of where/when/which to buy and for how much in addition to trying to find themselves a suitable home.
My advice to people who are looking for a comfortable place to live that suits them is to focus on finding a comfortable place that suits them. I’m not trying to sound Zen, I’m trying to save some of you from yourselves. It’s hard enough for most people to find a home that perfectly satisfies one side of the equation let alone both. Buying a home can be stressful enough, especially for first time buyers. I see my profession as being part counsellor as many people get uh… rather emotional when they’re buying for the first time even when they’re just focusing on the home part. I empathize with this as it is after all the biggest purchase most of us will ever make and don’t want you to make it worse on yourself.
In other words, if you need a home, get a home, if you want an investment focus more on that. You can do both but what you save/make in money you pay for in other ways. I would say this regardless of market conditions.
