Multiple offers are back – are they going to stay?

Are you a buyer looking for a 1-bedroom apartment under $400,000 in Vancouver? Have you noticed every time you submit an offer you are accompanied with at least one other buyer. Multiple offers are back, when are they going to stop? The Real Estate Market in Vancouver has had it’s ups and downs- where are we now?

I would like to evaluate the Real Estate market in Vancouver West NOT the GVRD- If you look at some of the numbers you will see the peak of the market was around May 2008. Since then the market slowed down drastically, with lower amounts of buyers looking for a new home or investment property. The number of sellers increased dramatically due to noticing external factors predicting a turn in the market so numerous homeowners and investors tried to offer their property at an overly optimistic price trying to maximize their returns. The banks also started decreasing the amount of money being leant out- also halting the buyers being able to spend/borrow any money.

As we approached the end of 2008 the Bank of Canada reduced the prime rate resulting in “cheaper” money. Couple this with lowering prices of real estate on the West Side and your dream home is now closer to becoming a reality. This was greatly appreciated by the first time homebuyers who missed the opportunity to purchase their first home the last time the market was at a low.

Since the number of buyers increased- with basic supply and demand- the price of real estate needed to increase, and it did. With a huge amount of buyers looking for a similar product, multiple offers was a common word coming out of the selling realtor’s mouth. Now, once again our buyers are going through the stressful process of doing everything they can to purchase their dream home above asking price in a timely manor. I predict this “crazy” market will continue till the middle of July and then it should slow down till September.

Jacob Krause and I have been involved in hundreds of multiple offers over the last 5 years- if you are considering purchasing your first home in Vancouver- please feel free to email or contact us directly and we can take you through the process of purchasing in a multiple offer while keeping the stress to a minimum.

Saying all of that- when is a good time to buy? The Real Estate market is very cyclical through out each year. The spring and fall months are generally a lot busier than other times in the year. The summer is when most families are out of town, enjoying the few sunny days and looking after the kids when they are not at school.  A great time to buy is in the summer months- there is less competition when purchasing in these times of the year but also less inventory because most sellers will be waiting for the busier buying times. The fall months in 2009 will be a very interesting time to buy; depending on the interest rates will also influence the amount of buyers you will be competing with.