There are a couple of interesting trends in the Real Estate numbers that have emerged so stay tuned to the Monday Market monitor to know how they affect you and your purchasing power or home values!

Thank you once again for joining me today. It is August 22nd, and time for your Monday Market Monitor as we look back at the numbers for the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
The end of summer is fast approaching; in fact, after this video, there will only be one more till we officially hit the 4th quarter.
It should not come as a surprise that the sales this last week were nothing to write home about but some interesting trends are happening that may play out for a couple more weeks till everyone is back from vacays, and the kids are settled and in school.
So, let’s break down the numbers.

New Listings. This number came as a bit of a surprise to me because what I am seeing week over week for the last 4 weeks is a weekly increase in listings. So much so that we almost that we were two units off from hitting 800 new listings last week. The reason that I find this interesting is that people might be thinking … shit… there is a rate increase on the horizon, and we better list to get ahead of that and hope for a successful sale. Or they could be thinking that sales have remained pretty steady for the last seven weeks ( minus that low number posted after the August long weekend ) so let’s get the property on the market.
I still think that your best bet for a successful home sale is to wait till the buyer pool is back in town and their focus shifted from summer fun to fall seriousness.
Either way, an intriguing number to keep an eye on.

Last week 95 listings came to the end of their term or expired, which is 20 more than last week but a far cry from the 279 that had unsuccessful sales that first week in August.
Those first week of August numbers really did rock the boat.

Now for Price Changes. Three hundred twenty-seven units got haircuts this past week, right in line with the number that we have been seeing for the past 7 weeks.
So that was not  surprise and neither were the sales numbers. We hit 420 sales for last week, only 4 less then the previous week but get this…

If you have been following my videos, then you know that I started extracting some curious stats from the last couple of weeks. Specifically, I follow the number of properties selling at or above the list price. Last week was the first time this number dropped below 24% to 15%. So, only 64 of the 420 units sold at or above the list price. Of course, this could just be a one-off dip in the numbers, and we will have to wait to see what the next couple of weeks brings. But what is evident to me is that for sellers choosing the proper list price has to be your number one priority if you want a successful sale in this moderating environment. Your second priority needs to be marketing to ensure that your home is seen by, not the most number of people but the right people. So, target marketing should actually be weighted as heavily as your pricing if you want to have one of those elusive summer sales.

Circling back to some of the sales numbers. Of the 420 sales last week, and this is right in line with last week, 236 of them were under a million bucks.
So, why is that important? Well, if you are a buyer, you need to know that this price point in the market is the driver and, thus, the most competitive. I mentioned last week that if you are considering a purchase under 1M then be sure you are prepared. You don’t want to waste your time or anyone else’s, so get the pre-approval and the right realtor on your side to guide you.
For sellers, this number is essential if you have a property under that 1M pricepoint because that is where your highest probability of a sale is currently. That is not to say your agent can not do any marketing for you, in fact, o get the best results, your marketing and pricing have to be spot on to get the right eyeballs on the listing and in front of the right buyers who have the means and the desire to buy your place.

I think that you have had your fill for the week. Thanks again for tuning into your Monday Market Monitor, and remember, if you have Real Estate questions, we have answers, so reach out and find out how we can help you reach your Real Estate goals.
Thanks for tuning in, and we will see you in the next video!