Friday, November 28, 2008

November Inventory and Sales --updated--


This month really was the pits for Realtors and home sellers. REBGV home sales are down about 70% compared with last November and the MOI has roared to over 22 Months. Inventory has started to shrink and will continue to reduce as we approach the year end. Now the speculation begins as to how high the listing count will climb this spring.

Today we are faced with 76% higher inventory than the same time last year (19,524 v. 11,114). This number combined with the horrendous sales numbers (915 v. 2884 last November) has stomped out any of the last few burning embers of this market... Okay, that was a bit harsh but at Novembers sales pace it would take over 22 months to clear out our existing inventory v. 3.85 MOI in Nov. 2007. Wow, what a different market.

The good news is that affordability is improving. Lots of previously priced out Vancouverites may now be able to afford to buy a home in Vancouver! Prices are falling and if you look hard enough you can find some excellent buys, however you may want to sit on your hands for a while longer.

For now let’s all enjoy the holiday season! There are some serious sales going on this season and not only on houses and condos:). Have a Merry Christmas and happy holidays.



Months of Inventory (MOI) Sucks to be Squamish



Listings +76% YOY



Sales -70% YOY



UPDATE

Prices are falling sharply. Believe it or not the average SFH price fell 10% this month. Yes in 1 month. $745,778 for November v. $825,206 for October. The average has dipped 19% since March. It will be interesting to see if the benchmarks also make a dramatic drop.