February 2020 Market Update!
Welcome back, welcome back! To the February 2020 Market Update. For those new viewers/readers/listeners out there, this is the monthly report on the previous months activity, aimed at keeping YOU, in the know of everything Vancouver Real Estate. We do this monthly update segment once a month, followed by a variety of supporting areas in between updates!
Right off the bat we can say February continued to be a strong performer in Real Estate. Especially for the attached housing market. To summarise briefly, since July of last year we have seen activity increase substantially year-over-year and this month was no different.
Check out these Sale-To-Active Listings ratio: (we’ll explain why they are important in a minute)
So, why are these numbers important? Well when you are trying to figure out if the market is going to move upwards, prices are going to increase, or maybe looking at the opposite, this is one of the main factors you will be looking at.
As a rule of thumb, if these numbers dip below 12%, for a sustained period of time, it’s typically downward pressure on home prices. Also known as a buyers market. In between 12-20% is considered a balanced market with pricing poised to remain relatively stagnant. Above 20% is when pressure on prices to increase comes into play, known as a sellers market. The market in which we are in now. Don’t forget the important ‘sustained period of time’ comment. That’s imperative, a one off month is not going to change anything.
But the above numbers have looked similar for a long time and been in the same sort of ranges, that’s why we are seeing a slight increase in pricing each month. February followed suit with an average increase of 0.8%. The average has been around 0.7% these past four to six months for reference.
Let’s take a look at some actual February listings and sales figures now for Vancouver:
So looking at the above from a year over year perspective, it’s clear to see sales volume has increased significantly, whereas inventory has remained rather steady, or it’s depleted. This ladies and gentleman, is what is causing our market to react this way. The heightened demand, matched with the low inventory levels. This is the direct cause of WHY, the sales volume has picked up 44.9% from February 2019 to February 2020.
We feel it’s important to mention a key statistic being released with these new figures. Although activity is up significantly, we are still sitting 15.6% below the 10-Year February average. This may come as a relief to some of you buyers but it really should not! This is a sure fire way to missing out, giving you the full assumption you have ‘time’ on your hands. The reality is that time is costing you money as we are seeing the market steadily increase. If you speak to those in the market buying or selling homes right now, you’ll hear the stories of multiple offers, sold in days and so on, so forth. It’s a very competitive time out there as multiple buyers are fighting for a reduced number of properties. So if it is already extremely competitive out there, can you imagine an additional 15.6% ON TOP of where it is at now, as that is the way we are heading.
In short, it’s a busy time and things only look to be increasing as we head into Spring. Buyers, now is your time to get in to avoid further price increases. Sellers, now is your time to sell as you are competing with less homes and benefiting from a higher sales rate!
For more information or a specific area breakdown, feel free to reach out to either of us on the contact details below!
Thanks again!
Until next week,
Welcome back, welcome back! To the February 2020 Market Update. For those new viewers/readers/listeners out there, this is the monthly report on the previous months activity, aimed at keeping YOU, in the know of everything Vancouver Real Estate. We do this monthly update segment once a month, followed by a variety of supporting areas in between updates!
Right off the bat we can say February continued to be a strong performer in Real Estate. Especially for the attached housing market. To summarise briefly, since July of last year we have seen activity increase substantially year-over-year and this month was no different.
Check out these Sale-To-Active Listings ratio: (we’ll explain why they are important in a minute)
So, why are these numbers important? Well when you are trying to figure out if the market is going to move upwards, prices are going to increase, or maybe looking at the opposite, this is one of the main factors you will be looking at.
As a rule of thumb, if these numbers dip below 12%, for a sustained period of time, it’s typically downward pressure on home prices. Also known as a buyers market. In between 12-20% is considered a balanced market with pricing poised to remain relatively stagnant. Above 20% is when pressure on prices to increase comes into play, known as a sellers market. The market in which we are in now. Don’t forget the important ‘sustained period of time’ comment. That’s imperative, a one off month is not going to change anything.
But the above numbers have looked similar for a long time and been in the same sort of ranges, that’s why we are seeing a slight increase in pricing each month. February followed suit with an average increase of 0.8%. The average has been around 0.7% these past four to six months for reference.
Let’s take a look at some actual February listings and sales figures now for Vancouver:
So looking at the above from a year over year perspective, it’s clear to see sales volume has increased significantly, whereas inventory has remained rather steady, or it’s depleted. This ladies and gentleman, is what is causing our market to react this way. The heightened demand, matched with the low inventory levels. This is the direct cause of WHY, the sales volume has picked up 44.9% from February 2019 to February 2020.
We feel it’s important to mention a key statistic being released with these new figures. Although activity is up significantly, we are still sitting 15.6% below the 10-Year February average. This may come as a relief to some of you buyers but it really should not! This is a sure fire way to missing out, giving you the full assumption you have ‘time’ on your hands. The reality is that time is costing you money as we are seeing the market steadily increase. If you speak to those in the market buying or selling homes right now, you’ll hear the stories of multiple offers, sold in days and so on, so forth. It’s a very competitive time out there as multiple buyers are fighting for a reduced number of properties. So if it is already extremely competitive out there, can you imagine an additional 15.6% ON TOP of where it is at now, as that is the way we are heading.
In short, it’s a busy time and things only look to be increasing as we head into Spring. Buyers, now is your time to get in to avoid further price increases. Sellers, now is your time to sell as you are competing with less homes and benefiting from a higher sales rate!
For more information or a specific area breakdown, feel free to reach out to either of us on the contact details below!
Thanks again!
Until next week,
Jay Mcinnes
T: 604.771.4606
jay@mcinnesmarketing.com
Ben Robinson
T: 604.353.8523
ben@mcinnesmarketing.com