One of the things that’s always important is to be able to see through the clutter and hear through the noise, and we imagine that these days that’s more true than ever for people. It was earlier this year that great misfortune was predicted to befall the real estate industry in Canada, but here we are near the end of the same year and the majority of those predictions haven’t come true.
One thing that anyone – not just real estate agents in Canada – will tell you is that the health and vitality of the industry is important because it encompasses the interests of both individual people and that of the economy. That’s not to make less of the need for affordable housing and better access to quality housing for Canadians, but for as long as real estate is a commodity there’s going to be a certain inevitability of it being tied to economic prosperity here.
People will continue to do what they can to work with that reality and be able to buy a home that meets their needs, and in the same way real estate agents will do what they can to be the realtors working with these homebuyer or home seller clients. To that end, our online real estate lead generations system for Canada here at Real Estate Leads is an excellent resource for any realtor doing just that. This business is always competitive, and when you’re new to being a realtor it can be intimidating.
29% Year-Over-Year Gains Last Month
The news that home sales in Greater Vancouver grew by 29% year-over-year in October, with transactions rising to 3,687 from 2,858, is good news on either end of that perspective. It suggests that homes are still being put on the market consistently, and then with the fact they’re selling we can safely conclude that a) there continue to be qualified buyers, and b) homes are selling for at or close-to what the sellers are expecting to receive for their properties.
Sales also increased by 1.2% last month from 3,643 transactions the month previous, September, and were up 34.7% from the 10-year average. This makes it the second-highest total ever for the month, and makes it even clearer that the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t pushed down activity in the country’s most expensive real estate market.
One thing that’s definitely been a contributing factor is that lockdown measures in the spring were a catalyst for homeowners to upgrade their homes, and this trend has been a co-operator for the trend of homes sales not missing much of a beat in Vancouver and area.
It’s a reflection of a bigger-picture trend where people are rethinking their housing situation, and on both macro and micro levels. Then there’s the role of the Bank of Canada cutting interest rates to historic lows, and this is the biggest reason real estate markets in Canada’s 3 biggest cities have been able to weather the economic fallout of the pandemic.
What’s happened is that low rates have opened the market up to previously not-quite-qualified would-be buyers. Pair that with pent up demand and the never-ending supply and demand equation disparity for housing in areas of the country and you actually have more people coming into the market.
The REBGV data also indicates that detached home sales went up by 42.3% last month from October 2019, and the benchmark price went up by 8.5% to $1,523,800 along with that. There are many different factors coming into play with that buyer preference trend too. This is especially true in ‘satellite city’ areas around the major metro regions in Vancouver and Toronto, but it is definitely a reflection of bigger trends that will likely come to be applicable for small cities too.
Sign up with Real Estate Leads here and receive a monthly quota of qualified, online-generated buyer and / or seller leads that are delivered to one realtor only – you. Sign up and indicate your preferred region of any city or town in Canada and you’ll be able to start receiving these leads and then enjoying the more direct and immediate connection with folks who live in the area and are genuinely considering making a move in the local real estate market. It’s a proven-effective way to supercharge your client prospecting efforts in a BIG way!
