Multiple offers are back with a vengeance. If you plan to buy or sell a condo or detached home this Spring, you must watch this video!

We are back with your Monday Market Monitor for March 13th – 19th, 2023. I am absolutely blown away by the stats this week, so let’s get down to business.

First off, let’s focus on the number of new properties coming to the market. Over the last three weeks, the number of new listings coming to the market has decreased week-over-week from 1047 to 1023 and this past week to 1007. 

While these decreases may not seem astronomical, the effect that shrinking inventory coming to the market has is significant on buyer choice and is pushing increased demand on the new supply, as we will see. 

We can see this in our weekly absorption rate.

What is the absorption rate? Good question.

Simply put, the absorption rate is a way to measure the rate at which available homes are being sold in a specific market over a specific time frame. 

In our example, we are looking at the weekly rate. 

So we take the number of listings coming to market weekly, 1007 this week and divide that by the number of units sold, which was 555 this week. You have an absorption rate of 1.81.

This means it will take less than two weeks to sell off the inventory coming to the market. That is a fast-paced market because typically above 20% typically signals a seller’s market, and an absorption rate below 15% is an indicator of a buyer’s market.

So, As I mentioned, last week’s sales totalled 555, which in the previous three weeks has also dropped week-over-week. 

Right now, it looks like the drop in sales is due to the decline in inventory because, as I mentioned in the video intro, we are seeing crazy amounts of properties going into multiple offers and selling at or above list price.

In the entire 37 weeks I have been doing these videos, I have not seen the percentage this high!

Last week we hit a whopping 37.3% of listing sold selling at or above the list price. This number has been steadily rising since the first week of February.

A couple of things to note here for sellers:

First off, since going into effect, the right of recision period has had no impact on the number of people looking to get into competition for properties, good news for you. 

Secondly, there are a lot of buyers out there that have not found the home they are looking for. Great news if you are trying to time the market.

And Thirdly, sellers, if you have a condo or townhome to sell, this is your time to sell and move up. Last week 68% of the properties sold were condos or townhomes. You have a captive audience, so it might be the right time to take advantage of this market. 

For the buyers in the crowd, you have some work to do.

First off, only bother looking at homes once you have a pre-approval from a mortgage broker. 

 was talking to one of my preferred lenders this week, and he had an agent take a buyer out to look at homes. They beat out the competition on a multiple offer and then went to secure the financing only to find out that the buyer could not afford a fraction of what the property cost. So, don’t be caught in the situation. 

Secondly, you need a great agent on your side to guide you through multiple offers. The right of recision period has changed the rules related to multiples and has made it a little trickier for a buyer’s offer to stand out, so you need the expertise of a seasoned agent with a few tricks up their sleeve to make your offer rise above the rest. 

Remember, if you want to have an in-depth conversation about the Vancouver Real Estate Market and how these stats will affect your Spring home sale or home purchase, then reach out for some expert advice.

Thank you so much for tuning in to your Monday Market Monitor, and we will see you in the next video.