The Offers Aren’t There, Even Low-Ball Offers

Two reports from Global News on Canada. “When Scott Hartley put his Calgary home up for sale back in June, he thought it may take a few weeks to sell. He was wrong. Months later, it’s still on the market, despite three price drops. ‘We started at $700,000,’ Hartley said. ‘Within six weeks we were down to $675,000 and we continued down to $650,000.'”

“Recent figures from The Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB) show Hartley’s situation is not surprising. Overall home sales declined almost 10 per cent in October across the city, with detached home sales down to levels not seen since the late 1990’s.”

“‘The offers aren’t there. We’re getting lots of good positive feedback, yet no offers,’ Hartley said. ‘Even low-ball offers. Even though everybody is talking about it being a buyer’s market, we’re not seeing buyers really being active.'”

“He can stick it out for a while, and even lower the price a bit, but there are limits. ‘Every individual has got their floor that they can’t go below and I’m pretty close to that.'”

“A local real estate agent and industry blogger is calling Langley’s current condo market ‘insane.’ Looking at stats from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, Steve Saretsky said inventory has nearly quadrupled in the last 12 months, a six-year high. He said Langley was the hottest condo market this time last year but now prices are dropping off as the area becomes flooded with condos.”

“‘So you had all these people speculating that prices were going to rise and jump 40 per cent last year. You have all these new developers competing in the real market. There was one developer in Langley a couple weeks ago to pay for first year’s mortgage payments. … That’s not really a good sign of a healthy market,’ Saretsky said.”

“He says it’s concerning. The Fraser Valley condo market saw sales drop 50 per cent, year over year, in October. ‘And then you have inventory jump 149 per cent. That’s not really a trend that you want to fight.'”

The Georgia Straight. “The party’s over for Lower Mainland real-estate agents. That’s because October residential sales were 26.8 percent below the 10-year average for that month, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. Listings in October reached 12,984. That was 42.1 percent higher than the figure recorded in the same month of 2017.”

“The relatively high number of listings is putting downward pressure on the cost of residential real estate. ‘Home prices have edged down between three and five per cent, depending on housing type, in our region since June,’ REBGV president Phil Moore said. ‘The supply of homes for sale today is beginning to return to levels that we haven’t seen in our market in about four years.'”

The Edmonton Journal. “Home sales — and prices — in Edmonton have taken a hit, show the latest figures. Total residential unit sales sunk 13.61 per cent year over year, said the Realtors Association of Edmonton. Single family home sales are down 14.86 per cent compared to October 2017 while duplex/row houses dropped a whopping 30.77 per cent year over year.”

“‘Some of the market decreases are a result of slower sales coupled with higher inventory and listings, as well, it is also common for both prices and sales to begin to decrease at this time of year due to seasonal market fluctuations,’ said Darcy Torhjelm of the Realtors Association of Edmonton. ‘As we move towards the end of the year, we will likely see average days on market grow with inventory remaining higher.'”

The Sooke News Mirror. “Upon hearing the latest housing market assessment from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, real estate agent Patrick Schörle said it reflected what he saw on the ground.”

“According to the report, Victoria’s housing market continued to show signs of overvaluation. They believe homes are overvalued for the fundamentals. Single-detached sales declined from 60 to 50 per cent of total sales, while apartment sales increased from 30 to 40 per cent of total sales, so ‘in other words, demand in the market shifted to units with relatively greater affordability.'”

“Homes are now on the market for longer, and fewer homes were sold above asking price. Schörle, of Pacifica Real Estate in Sidney, said he does not expect the market to decline, instead saying it is softening. Sellers can no longer be as aggressive on upscale pricing, he said. There were some signs of a slowdown, he added, but it would become clearer by the end of January. It was more likely that the market would flatline, he said.”

“He saw tremendous growth in the market in 2016, and if home values declined dramatically, recent homebuyers committed to mortgages ‘would be put under water,’ said Schörle.”