Buyers, Time To Come Around To This New Market!

Buyers - Time To Come Around To This New Market!

A lot of talk is going around these days on Vancouver’s real estate market. Not to bore you with repetition, but a lot of it is focused on the market correction we have had, how pricing has come down and how there is a disconnect in buyers and sellers expectations.

But, although all the above is true, there is a part of the above which is left out or usually brushed over in most conversations. I’m talking about the ‘buyer and seller disconnect’ portion. Usually this conversation is had by buyers, who are complaining that sellers have not adjusted their expectations to today’s pricing. However true this may be (which a large portion of the time it is) the same applies for buyers not adjusting THEIR expectations to the new market.

Sales are hitting ‘all time lows’ and it’s being spoken about in the media A LOT. So when this happens most people rally to scream ‘Sellers need to reduce prices further!’ but that’s not always the case.  Buyers are a huge reason sales are at all time lows. You’ve never had a better opportunity in the last number of years to buy in Vancouver, with the amount of inventory to pick from, the reduced prices (which some thought may never happen) and the low cost of lending. You’re spoilt for choice.

But as always, when something is coming down, the market thinks it is forever coming down. So if a condo’s new adjusted price in this market is $600,000. You have buyers putting in bids for $550,000. No justification, no reasoning beyond it’s a buyers market and the market is coming down. Even further from this, you have these same buyers then complaining when the offers are not accepted - typically along the lines of “They need to realise it’s a buyers market and prices are coming down!” It’s these kinds of tactics that are largely contributing to the low amount of sales, as well as seller expectations and a variety of other factors.

This brings us back to Market Value. It’s not just sellers who need to adjust to today’s market value, it’s buyers out there too. The amount of times we have heard buyers saying “Sellers are still expecting yesterday prices”. That may be true in a lot of cases but as a buyer, you cannot bid on a home today because of what YOU believe tomorrow's price will be.

Unfortunately, this will ring deaf on a large majorities ears, they will only realise the opportunity when the market starts to turn. If you are to believe a lot of the talk on the Hong Kong situation right now, some believe that will happen sooner, rather than later.

Unfortunately, nobody has a crystal ball (that we know of) and can determine what will happen. However, if you are looking to buy OR sell in today’s market, you are doing just that, buying or selling in TODAY’s market, and that means today’s pricing.

Thank you for tuning into this weeks blog! 

Until next week,

Jay Mcinnes
T: 604.771.4606
jay@mcinnesmarketing.com

Ben Robinson
T: 604.353.8523
ben@mcinnesmarketing.com

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