Vancouver real estate statistics for Vancouver West in May shows us the information we need to calculate the number of monthly listings, the number of sales and the average price for houses, townhouses and condos in Vancouver. If we drill down into these figures we can see that the average price compared to a year ago for houses is down by 8.6%, townhomes are down by 0.7% and condos are down by 0.3%. If we drill deeper we can see that for some reason the price of three bedroom apartments in Vancouver are up.

So which type of property has performed the best in the Vancouver real estate market? The answer is townhomes and condos! This is because houses have had the strongest price increases over the last three years and are poised for a correction. Some believe that this correction will be in the range of 15% over the next two years. I believe that this correction will not be anything dramatic and in fact this is actually good news for local people who are waiting to get into the house market. My personal prediction is that townhomes’ and condos’ prices will remain flat and the vast majority of this ‘correction’ will be in the detached house market in Vancouver West and West Vancouver. Open houses I am doing in the million dollar detached house market in North Vancouver and in the condo market in Downtown Vancouver are as busy as ever, if not busier than usual. This means there are still a lot of buyers out there who are looking to purchase and now have an abundance of listings to choose from.

Sellers are going to have to realize that if they want their property to sell they will have to either present it better or reduce the price to a competitive level. After the news of the prediction of a decline in Vancouver real estate my phone has been busy with owners wanting to list their homes to ‘pull out’ of the market. My advice to them has been to make sure that their listings are well presented to stand out compared to equally priced units/ houses. These homeowners are also very impressed to hear that I and my team go into their property and will home stage, declutter, and generally ‘polish up’ their homes to make them ready to sell on the market (on my budget!!). My philosophy is that if you owned a car showroom you would not sell any cars if they were dirty, with junk on the backseat! I believe that the same applies to presenting a home for sale. Gone are the days where your real estate agent ‘just lists’ your home for sale, puts their sign outside and puts it on the MLS system. Selling real estate is now a much more competitive market and I believe that agents like myself who offer added value like ‘free home staging’ will prosper and continue to sell homes in this declining market. Why would you not take me up on this offer!

If you would like me to assess your home to get it ready to sell, and evaluate what needs to be done to sell it, i.e. home stage, declutter, tidy, clean, decorate then please get in touch with me and I will be over the same day to perform your assessment. If you want results I am your Vancouver REALTOR ® of choice. Call Russell Sharp on 604 437 4277 now.