company logo
  • Home
  • Sam's Story
  • Google Reviews
  • Search MLS
  • Commissions
  • Blog
  • Links
  • Contact
  • Properties
    • Active Listings
    • Sales
banner image

< back to article list

Vancouver Real Estate Report - Is Now the Time to Buy?

Sam Wyatt Personal Real Estate Corporation | January 12th, 2014

Months of Inventory (MOI) for Vancouver West real estate remained near 5 months for all home types in December.

Chart - Inventory Jan 07 -_.jpg

The months of inventory metric hit over 14 months in December of 2012 but steadily dropped to around 5 months over the course of 2013 where it is now hovering.  I suspect that the Vancouver real estate market will remain stable as long as the US Federal Reserve Bank continues to purchase billions of dollars a month in bonds.  This stimulus is effectively increasing the money supply and depressing interest rates lower from where they would otherwise be.  Interestingly, the Federal Reserve has already reduced its bond buying to $75,000,000,000 in December from $85,000,000,000 the month before.  It plans to continue to reduce its purchases by 10 billion a month until late this year when the program will come to an end.  It will be interesting to see how high interest rates will rise as the taps are slowly closed. I am guessing we will see 5yr fixed rates go up another 1%.

Pricing on detached westside homes in January of 2013 was $1,995,300, the lowest it has been since early spring of 2011.  Thanks to the spring market, prices grew slightly and the HPI index for westside houses was $2,103,300 in December 2013.  Pricing has generally been stable for attached homes and apartments in 2013.

14-HPI Index Detached-Jan.jpg

So what does it mean to me?  The questions I get asked most are: "Is it the right time to sell?" and  "Is it the right time to buy?".  The answer is yes but the questions should be  "Is it the right time for ME" and "where is it a good time to buy/sell?". 

I sold all of my Vancouver real estate holdings and presently rent.  The reason is simple - it costs a lot less!  The Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation recently released its 2013 Rental Market Report and it illustrates that very point - it is significantly less costly to rent than purchase a home on the westside of Vancouver.  Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of reasons why buying a home in Vancouver makes more sense then renting but for now, the cost is not one of them. The most important thing to remember is that the longer you plan to hold your property the more likely it will pay off.

If you are an investor and want to buy cash flowing properties with minimal down payments then the question about where to buy is far more significant.  The answer is:  go where things are growing.  I have purchased several revenue properties in Fort St. John BC and have and continue to help clients do the same.  Fort St. John is in the heart of one of the largest natural gas deposits in North America.  You may recall Premier Christy Clark's election promise to promote BC's natural gas industry - it won her the election.  Properties in Fort St. John are cash flowing beautifully with projected annualized returns of about 20% based on a 5 year hold.  If you are interested in exploring the investment opportunities in Fort Saint John, give me a call and we can get started.

Remember that Months of Inventory (MOI) is a measure derived from the number of active listings during a given month divided by the number of sales that month. It indicates the theoretical length of time it would take to sell all of the properties on the market if nothing changed. Historically, 0-5 months of inventory has generally implied upward price pressure for the ensuing six months, 5-8 months of inventory meant a flat market with respect to pricing and over 8 months of inventory has, for the most part, precipitated downward price pressure.

Do not hesitate to call me if you have any questions and please pass this and my contact information along to any friends or family who might benefit from my services.

By Sam Wyatt VancouverRealtor

THIS ENTRY WAS POSTED ON January 12th, 2014 BY Sam Wyatt Personal Real Estate Corporation | POSTED IN Vancouver Real Estate Statistics
  • Email
  • Tweet
  • facebook share

Categories

  • Assignments
  • General
  • Listings
  • Mountaineering Trip Reports
  • Tax
  • Vancouver Real Estate Statistics

Archives

  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • July 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • August 2005

ATOM RSS RSS 2
Stilhavn Real estate footer logo



Inquiries

  • Sam Wyatt
  • 36 East 5th Avenue,
  • Vancouver,
  • BC,
  • V5T 1G8,
  • CA
  • 604-722-3734
  • 604-988-1239
  • sam@samwyatt.com

FortBlanc by Ubertor © 2018 All Rights Reserved.

  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Real Estate websites for Agents