Our market has shifted fairly quickly and faster than any of us had predicted; however, is it all doom and gloom? Is the sky falling? We don’t think so. Since March of this year our prices are down 15%, sales are down 20% and our inventory has doubled. This all sounds troubling, but we need to consider that the market we had in the first quarter was unlike anything we had experienced before. Our prices for single family homes are still up 14% from May of last year and 2021 was one of our best years on record. Although our inventory has doubled, we are at similar levels that we experienced in 2019 which wasn’t a poor market.
A slower market always brings opportunity and that is what some economists are predicting to happen in our Canadian market. Canada’s population growth is the highest among the G7 nations and overall we have low home inventory and are not keeping up with new construction across our nation. Some large institutional investors are turning towards the Canadian market. These large investment companies such as Blackstone Inc, are looking to purchase large quantities of single-family homes as rental properties. Although they are concentrating on larger cities, this will allow consumers to sell their home in Toronto or Vancouver and move to desirable areas such as Kelowna.
It will be interesting to watch what the market does in the next month, with interest rates predicted to increase again on July 13th. Our group is experiencing a flurry of activity the past few days which seems to be felt by most agents and will likely positively impact the stats for July.
We don’t believe the ship has sailed, but just slowed down. If properties are well priced they are selling and in some cases they are still selling in multiple offers.
If you have any other questions about the market or looking to get an opinion on the value of your property, please let us know – we are always happy to help.
Thank you,
Shannon and Tamara
