FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (EMAILWIRE)

NOVEMBER 22ND, 2012

The volumes of sales in Metro Vancouver, Canada have reduced drastically while the inventories have gone up. Despite all this, the SFD prices have only gone down slightly. So what is responsible for the real estate indices?

According to an article posted on The Vancouver Sun which was written by Andrey Pavlov who is a finance professor at Simon Fraser University, he highlighted the fact that he thought that the indices were "misleading" though he felt this was unintentional. According to him, the indices were not true reflection of the attitude changes in the market at the moment. According to him "In an up market, everything sells, good or bad. In a down market, only the best properties sell. So it takes awhile for transaction based indices to reflect the true decline in prices."

People who are looking to sell should be more realistic. This is especially true when looking at high end markets like West Vancouver and North Vancouver real estate. It is about time they accepted that the peak has passed so if they are looking to sell, they need to do so for realistic prices. Dr Pavlov also noted on a separate article on a newspaper that this monetary adjustment is not something that can "happen overnight." It takes around six months for the people who sell to make the necessary adjustments. There is no rebound from this. It is time to cash out or just get out of the business with what I can, while I still can.

According to Dr. Pavlov, Metro Vancouver is among the top three 'unaffordable' cities in the world and North America. Houses in Metro Vancouver have a higher value than similar houses in places such as San Francisco and they are almost on the same level as the ones in New York. What makes the situation more interesting is the fact that rents are cheaper in San Francisco, wages are higher for similar occupations while the taxpayers are allowed to deduct the mortgage interest expenses. This is not the case up here.
The highly prized 'immigrant investor' class will be interested to note the United States versus Canada differences. Any business-savvy outsider who has minimum net worth of $1.6 million and has deposited $800,000 towards Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) over a five year period was able to have their permanent residence card fast tracked.

The CIC "temporarily stopped" taking in new applications on 1st July 2012 choosing to focus their energy on processing existing applications "while the program is reviewed." However, the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program is still in operation. You can get in touch with the Parti Quebecois pro-separatist government
The EB-5 visa program from the United States which is more affordable (US$1million ante) and less restrictive is becoming more popular. People want better value for their money. There is still some interest on Metro Vancouver coming from overseas most of it going to SFD purchasing replacements and renovations which seem to be mostly a 'follow through' of previous sales and commitments.

All potential buyers are now trying to ensure that they get the best deals. Most of them do their research looking to get the best deals and price reductions. The vendors on the other hand are hoping that there will be a return to the days of bidding wars. Good luck in the stalled market.

All humans are on the lookout for safe, clean and familiar places to call their own whether it is a cave or condo. BC and the Lower Mainland are likely to get more interest in decades to come as compared to the rest of the world. It comes down to the price and degree of interest that they are likely to generate.

The Richard Morrison Vancouver real estate team offered its observations on news from the Vancouver Sun regarding the fact that sales volume in the Greater Vancouver area have reduced significantly. The Vancouver real estate market has slowed considerably, and supply has increased significantly.

The Richard Morrison Vancouver real estate team has operated for 10 years in Vancouver and offers real estate professional advice, hot news, marketing tips, and trend analysis. 

Richard Morrison Vancouver Real Estate Team
208 - 789 Drake Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 2N7
rich@realestatevancouver2010.com
604-767-3703