Since the Guinness family of beer fame in the UK established the British Properties in the early 1900’s the area has been associated with prosperity. When I started selling real estate back in 1986 I remember out of town buyers always requesting that area. Caulfeild, for example, was considered “too far out”. The first significant non Canadian buyers were Persians and Hong Kong Chinese. On the other hand Koreans and Taiwanese as well as US and European buyers were more adventurous and many times found their dream homes on the waterfront, and many other West Van areas. Over the years buyers changed their requests. Altamont and Dundarave became favourite with wealthy young families as well as much of Caulfeild/Rockridge. Right now, I feel that we have come full circle. We all agree that the vast majority of new wealth is coming from Mainland China. And the British Properties are their area of choice! Listings that a few years ago with have languished on the market for months or even years are selling faster than anywhere else in West Van.

The number of listings in West Van never reached the feared number of 600. We are back to around 516. Today 5 new listings, 5 sales. And some price adjustments. Another wave of buyers are taking advantage of high inventory and new lower fixed rates -the 5 year is back to 3.89 and today I received a newsletter from a broker offering 3.17! However, the media is again talking about the buble that burst bla bla. The Finantial Post mentions a couple who bought 2 years ago and can’t sell for the price they paid even after renovations. It is not stressed that the couple bought in resort areas in the interior of Alberta…But it does scare some buyers. It’s the same old cycle over and over again. Fortunately Asian buyers seem oblivious to all these news.

1055 Braeside. It is the 3rd time that I sell this house . First in 2007 from the builder to an Edmonton family. The family liked the builder so they decided to buy a piece of land and have him build a perfect house for their present needs . We listed during the slow part of 2009 but it sold and they moved. The next owners, believe it or not, ended up also becoming friends with the builder and deciding that they were comfortable with the idea of having him build exactly what they want. This time I sold it in one day. The new buyers had seen the house last year but missed it. This year they were ready to buy. The day it came out on MLS their realtor alerted them -they made an offer without delay. One showing - one sale. Perfect for the sellers, for the buyers and for me. Basically no advertising costs which compensated for very high costs last year.
1690 19th - the perfect family home , on a perfect flat lot for young kids, in the perfect family location.My buyers, a young family from Toronto will join 2 of my clients with young families on the same block.
I have 2 more accepted offers… subjects to be removed this week…There are tons of listings but not too many good well priced homes.

Yesterday I was pointing out the surge in number of listings and cautioning sellers to look at offers…This evening I went to one of those investment speaker things. The speaker, who was excellent, touched on everything from global growth to interest rates and real estate. Vancouver, Sydney, Victoria, San Diego are some of the most expensive cities in the world. What do they all have in common? They are coastal cities that dominate the area. They offer mild climates and work opportunities. Basically - people want to live here. And as Ozzie Jurock says: “values grow where people go”. There will be ups and downs - like when the number of listings doubles in 4 months, banks make borrowing more difficult, and stock markets are volatile as a result of uncertainty about the pace of global growth. But the demand continues…

It doesn’t even matter any more. It will be 600 in no time - just like in 2008. Yet some sellers are still refusing amazingly high offers not realizing that it’s deal or no deal. The writing is on the walls. Offshore buyers will continue to buy mega mansions with mega views but markets can’t be sustained by offshore buyers. And many of the houses on the market in West Van appeal to local buyers - not to offshore buyers. It is a spotty market and the media are starting to pick up on what is going on…Too much product, buyers with no sense of urgency, negative media…On the plus side this trend will eventually create new buying opportunities…My buyers are qualified and ready!

We reached 519 detached homes for sale in West Vancouver - this is more than double January numbers…

Moving vans are all over West Van. I have clients moving this week on Mathers, Esquimalt, Bellevue, Inglewood, Waters Edge…

We are up to 493 new listings in West Van. Tomorrow we’ll reach 500. In my opinion this is the best indicator of a slowing market…

Today - 31 new listings in West Van! Thirty one!!! I would say that this is the beginning of the end except that offshore buyers are actually buying and also bringing amounts of cash unheard of ever before. The very high end (over $5 million) which had been quiet for over one year is selling every day, sometimes 2 a day…

And a total of 440 detached. Realtors who don’t know how to differenciate their listings will be seeing little action… The slow down is almost certain.
Changes to mortgage practices are already affecting some deals where buyers have very low downpayments. However, on a somewhat positive note, some mortgage brokers see fixed rates coming down again, following lower bond rates…