The Summer Solstice of Real Estate

What To Expect In Summer 2021

It’s a scorcher out there this week Vancouver! Make sure you are hydrating and keeping sunscreen close! As for Real Estate, we can expect more moderate temperatures. See what I did there …. Nice, I know!

Again, that’s not to say the market is shooting up OR down. More so, we can expect to see much of a muchness over the next few months. Typically June, July and August tend to remain steady on both Inventory/Buyer demand going by previous year trend. 
Let’s take a look at Westside Detached Housing in June, July and August of 2020:

June 2020
Inventory: 206
Sales: 78

July 2020
Inventory: 211
Sales: 75

August 2020 
Inventory: 191
Sales: 91

Yes I know, we’ve been saying comparison between 2020 vs. 2021 is not relevant due to Covid 19. But in this case it is, as we are looking at trends, not year over year increased activity. If you’ve followed us for a while, you’ll know we regularly point out trends in the market remain the same, just at different levels depending on if the market is heated or not.

So back to the above table. If you were to look at a Line Graph, you would see a pretty steady line for both of these sections (Inventory and Sales). Not a big difference in the amount of inventory coming to market over the course of the three months, and the same for sales as well. So what does this mean for the market?

Steadiness - We can expect to see similar amounts of inventory until the fall, along with similar buyer demand amounts. It’s almost like we take a temporary jolt into a balanced market of sorts for the Summer time. 

This rings true when it comes to pricing as well. May saw an increase in prices of 1.5% overall. However with the market slowing, and the fire from the crazy intense market burning out, it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see that price increase come to a halt, or remain at minimal amounts over the short term. The market does seem to ‘adjust’ ever so slightly when the fires go out from underneath it.

For you as a buyer/seller, what does this mean? That you’re going to be dealing with the same sort of market for the next few months. If you’re a seller and your noticing houses around you are selling in and around 21 days for under their asking price, it doesn't make sense for you to think you can list at market value and expect multiple offers to drive that price up. There are no indicators showing that is going to change in the next few months at least. In fact, we think that particular market has quickly almost withered away. One sure thing as a seller, summer is a dangerous few months if you get it wrong. Overpricing and building days on market can shoot yourself in the foot by the time the busier period of Fall comes around. You don’t want to be heading into fall with 60-90 Days on market already under your belt. Make sure you price those homes correctly!!

As a buyer, it means you can expect pricing to be at least similar, as well as the sort of activity you are finding yourself in competition with, is the same sort of competition levels you can expect over the summer months.cFor many this is a time to act, to be able to feel you can take a breath whilst in the property search.

That just about sums this week up! Good luck out there in your Vancouver Real Estate journey. As always, we are here should you have any questions. Don’t forget to check out our Podcast and Video versions of each blog too. These are also uploaded weekly for your listening/viewing pleasure!

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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