Market Minute - October 2019

The Sunshine Coast real estate market circa October 2019 can be described as follows: If you don’t need to sell right now, don’t. If you MUST sell, price your property sharply to avoid chasing the market further down.

Deciding what your property is worth on the open market requires equal parts science and art. The science comes from knowing what data to reference; the interpretation of that data is an art form. Price too high and your home could sit on the market for months longer than needed. Price too low and you end up leaving money on the table.

Can your agent justify their suggested sale price?

When you ask an agent how much he or she thinks your home is worth, they should be able to speak knowledgeably as to how they arrived at the number they did. Depending on specific circumstances, I use a combination of data points like recent sale prices, comparable price-per-square-foot, days on market, and even the time of year to determine what I believe your property to be worth on the open market.

Setting an appropriate asking price is arguably the most important decision you’ll make when selling your home. Many still believe that their tax assessment is the minimum market value of their property but unfortunately for them, that simply isn’t the case.

Based on info from last July

On its website, BC Assessment states that assessed values are “based on comparable markets sales on or about the previous July 1.” And according to statistics from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast’s benchmark price dropped roughly six per cent between July of 2018 and February 2019. Even if your assessment was correct last summer, the market has since slowed and the assessment should no longer be considered an accurate estimate of your home’s
value.

Year-over-year, the volume of sales on the Sunshine Coast is up but the median house price has dropped from 620,000 to just over 577,000. Average days on market jumped from 85 to 107.

We’re firmly in the midst of a buyers’ market and people that aren’t truly motivated to sell are finally pulling their homes off the market. Those that remain have accepted that they need to adjust their asking prices.

USE AN EXPERIENCED AND KNOWLEDGEABLE BUYERS' AGENT

Call me and I can happily refer you to a short list of some of the most experienced buyers' agents on BC's Sunshine Coast.